Wolves Bane
by AscaRiel
Summary: [Repost. A twist based on the thirdbook.] Harry realizes he is not the only one with a secret and a life that is far less then ordinary.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N._** _I am trying my hands on a Harry Potter fiction. I have no idea how my story or characters will develop, but I will try with all my might to stay away from a Mary Sue and to keep the original figures in characters. I would appreciate any help immensely. _

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the characters, places and names belong to J.K Rowling. Any original character belongs to me. I am not making any money out of this and I am doing it strictly out of my own (and hopefully others) entertainment.

**Carrier Of A Secret **(Jørn Dahl/David Forman)

_**Prologue.**_

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is the very best school of its kind in the world. The greatest witches and wizards, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin, founded it more than a thousand years ago.

The castle of Hogwarts is in a secret location, somewhere in the North, far from the prying eyes of Muggles (none magic people).

Students attend from the age of eleven and spend seven years in hard training and rigorous studying to master the art of magic.

Harry Potter was enjoying his third year at Hogwarts and was currently not active in any of the activities mentioned above. He was sitting alone in the library trying to make some sense out of everything that had happened so far this year and trying to figure out what would happen next.

He had almost blown up his aunt, which was, according to him, something she deserved. Technically it wasn't his fault, he couldn't control it. At the same time he had been terrified, an under aged wizard using magic outside the school grounds and in front of Muggles was punished with expulsion. Harry had even feared that they would throw him in Azkaban the prison fortress where they sent wizard criminals.

He had fled from his aunt and uncle and somehow ended up in the arms of Cornelius Fugde, the Minister of Magic himself.

Harry had avoided both expulsion and imprisonment because somebody wanted to kill him. Headmaster Dumbledore and Cornelius Fugde wanted to keep him safe, and Hogwarts was the safest place in the world. Ever since he was a baby someone had wanted to kill him, and his parents had made the sacrifice for him. He carried a lightning bolt shaped scar as a reminder of his first encounter with Lord Voldemort, and somehow he had gotten some of the Dark Lords power and talents. Speaking to snakes was one of them.

He had faced Lord Voldemort twice since then, and had nearly escaped the encounters alive. But this time it was one of Lord Voldemort's most loyal men who were after his blood, Sirius Black.

Harry Potter tried not to think about this, but it was a difficult thought to shake away. Professor Sybil Trelawny did not make things easier by foresee his gruesome death and by seeing death omens in his teacup. Professor Trelawny had a tradition of predicting the death of a student each year. So far she had been wrong. Harry just hoped that this year, she wouldn't be right.

Harry sighed deeply and decided that he had to start on the essay on the Shrinking Solution. He knew that no matter how hard an effort he put in his essay, professor Snape was going to give him a bad grade. Just thinking about Professor Snape made him angry, and he tightened the grip around his quill.

He sighed, rose from his chair and made his way towards the potion books. He skimmed through the section until he found what he was looking for. Just as he reached out to take the book another hand did the same.

"Oh. Sorry" The hand withdrew quickly. Harry turned and faced a small, skinny looking girl in Ravenclaw robes.

"You need this?" Harry asked indicating to the book.

"It's okay" the girl said quickly "I can probably find another book."

"What do you need it for?"

"Um…. it's for a essay on ingredients in a Shrinking Solution."

"Oh well, I am working on that as well. Maybe we can work together and share the book?" He looked at her and then noticed the blue button on her collar

"Aren't you a second year?"

"Yes"

"But, isn't this third-year-stuff?"

She blushed a little, but it was hard to tell with her face so well hidden in a lot of bushy black hair. "I am taking advanced classes"

"Oh" Harry answered simply not commenting why anybody want to take extra potion classes. "Shall we work together?"

"Okay" the girl said barley auditable.

"By the way, I am Harry Potter….but you probably knew that"

"My name is Maud Rena Epans. Most people call me Rena"

"Nice to meet you" Harry grinned not knowing that from this chance encounter, his life would take an entirely different route.

_Carrier of secret  
No one wants to know  
Show a little conscience  
Guardian of the palace  
No one wants to go  
Broken hearted monster_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the characters, places and names belong to J.K Rowling. Any original character belongs to me. I am not making any money out of this and I am doing it strictly out of my own (and hopefully others) entertainment.

_**Chapter one.**_

For a long time the only sound that was heard was from the scribbling of the quills, one more eager then the other. Harry looked over at Rena who sat with her nose almost pressed down in the parchment she was writing on, her hair spilling out over the desk.

He stared down at the few words he had written and sighed miserably. How was he going to fill three feet of parchment about the ingredients in a Shrinking Solution? It was a potion that made things shrink back to their earlier age. What more was there to say? He looked at Rena again, who was still scribbling furiously.

Apparently, a lot.

Suddenly she looked up and caught him staring at her. She blushed again and quickly hid her face. "Is something wrong?" she asked and for the first time Harry noticed her slight Scottish accent.

"Um, no…no" he mumbled. " I just….can't see to come up with anything on ingredients in a Shrinking Solution"

"Okay….what can you tell me about Daisy roots?" Rena asked carefully. Harry started at her with a blank face expressing a complete lack of understanding.

"Daisy…." Rena started "Can externally be used as a lotion for wounds, bruises, ulcers and some coetaneous diseases"

"How do you know that?" Harry asked curiously. He had read the passage four times and not once had that been mentioned. She grabbed the book and pointed to the lists of ingredients, behind the word "Daisy roots" was a barley noticeable little star. Rena then opened the book on the last page and pointed to a long list of words.

"Most flowers and herbs are also known under other names" she explained, "daisy is also known as _Leucanthemum vulgare _and _Great Ox-eye_"

Harry continued to stare at her blankly and nodded slowly in fake understanding.

"In other books they might use other names, but it still the same flower. Like here…" She handed Harry a book and the first thing that struck him was that the pictures were not moving.

"This is a muggle book," he said glad to finally understand something.

"Yes….most of the herbs have common muggle names and muggle uses. A couple of hundred years ago the muggles often made simple potions to cure the sick. Some were even just as good or better then wizard and witches. "

"How do you know this?" Harry asked obviously impressed.

"Um…Professor Snape mentioned it once…" she muttered.

"Do really like Potions" Harry asked.

Rena nodded. "Yes, I find it really fascinating"

"Which part? The dead insects or the stinking herbs?"

"I think…it is because it requires no magical talents" she said, " I mean, everybody can add the right amount ingredients in the correct order and so fort. It's not difficult. Charms however….." she gave a sigh Harry had often heard Ron used when he fought his way through a Potion class. "Charms require the right way to pronounce a word, the right flicker of your wand, concentration and certain amount of magical capabilities"

"Hm…" Harry thought, " I have never thought of it that way. I think I could enjoy Potions to, if Snape wasn't such a ghastly ghoul"

Rena opened her mouth to say something, but then changed her mind and without another word she returned to her homework.

For the first time Harry found that his Potion's homework was fairly easy and, he hated to admit it, somewhat interesting. He continued to work and did not notice that his essay had long ago passed the three feet needed. Not until Madam Pinch arrived and wanted to chase them away, did Harry stop.

He stretched his soar muscles and rubbed his fingers. He gently nudged Rena who was still bent over her homework. "We have to go. Thanks for you help…" she didnt respond and Harry wondered if she had fallen a sleep.

He nudged her again. "Hey! You have to wake up" he said loudly. Her head shot up and she looked around with a wild expression on her face as if she had just been roused from a nightmare.

"Eh…" she stuttered and looked at her surroundings a little lost.

"We have to leave before Madam Pinch….." Harry stopped and stared at her. A thick streak of blood was running from her nose. Blood dripped down on her parchment and on the books in large splatters. Harry tried to hide his fears and said as calmly as he could.

"Are you alright? You should see Madam Pomfry…" Rena lifted a hand to her nose and when she saw the blood on her hands, her face turned gray and she started to tremble.

"No, I am fine" she said and hurryingly started to gather her books and papers. Harry did not have time to say anything before she ran quickly out of the library leaving him alone. He noticed that blood had dripped down in the library book as well, and quickly closed it and placed it bank on the shelf before Madam Pinch noticed.

Not until he was back in his own dormitory and was going to read through his essay one last time did he notice that it was missing. In her hurry Rena must have taken his as well.

The prospect of starting the day with Defense Against the Dark Arts did nothing to damper Harry's dread for Potions were Snape would surly be as sour as ever and no doubt have Harry in detention for not turning in his essay on time.

"I thought you spent all afternoon in the library finishing it" Hermione hissed when Harry explained his dismay during breakfast.

"I did" Harry said "but Rena must have taken mine as well"

"Who?" Ron asked questioningly and swallowed his breakfast.

"A second-class Ravenclaw, she was sitting next to me in the library. We were sharing books," Harry explained.

"What she doing with third-year stuff?" Ron asked.

"She is taking advanced Potions"

Ron visible shuddered "you mean she wants to spend extra time with that creep in the dungeons" he looked pale just at the mere thought of it.

Hermione on the other hand looked a little impressed and a tad competitive. There was no doubt that she privately prided her self of being the smartest witch her age, if not among the smartest in the entire school.

"She must be really good then…" she mused, " I don't think Professor Snape would give _anybody_ advance classes."

"She is a Ravenclaw, right? All the students in Ravenclaw are really smart…..why are you not in Ravenclaw, Hermione?" Ron asked.

Hermione shrugged "the Sorting Hat really wanted to put me there, but I wanted to be in Gryffindor."

"Can't you just ask her to get your notes back, Harry?" Hermione asked and turned to Harry who was scanning the sea of students that were spilling into the Great Hall for breakfast.

"I would if I could find her," he muttered.

"Hey Ginny" Ron suddenly bellowed. Ginny, who was talking with some second-year Gryffindors looked at him with an irritated look in her eyes.

"What?"

"Maybe you know her….what was her name?" Ron turned to Harry.

"Rena…. last, last name…eh..?" he muttered.

"Epans?" Ginny asked and Harry nodded.

"Ravenclaw, right? We have Care of Magical Creatures and Charms together and she is my study group, but I don't know her. She is hardly ever there" she said and grabbed some toast and started to butter it.

"Why not?" 

"I dunno…sick or something I guess. I don't know" she furrowed her eyebrows "why do you ask?"

"Do you see her today?" Harry asked hopefully. Ginny shook her head and repeated her question.

"She took my homework by mistake and now Snape is going to grill me" Harry sighed and poked his breakfast miserably.

"Now I want your homework….and detention to anybody who fails to deliver" Professor Snape said and sent Harry a vicious glare as if he knew.

"Maybe you could try and explain it to him?" Hermione whispered as she gathered the essays. "It would like trying to talk to a stubborn weed," Harry muttered.

"We-el, who has failed to turn in their homework" his upper lip curled and he stared at Harry again. Harry slowly raised his hand, and the Slytherins sniggered.

"Mr. Potter" Professor Snape said a tone-of-voice Harry knew all to well. He set his face in a stone posture, bracing him self for what would come.

"It seems that famous Harry Potter is to good to do his simple homework. I think something more than detention is in order…."

Suddenly Professor Snape was interrupted by a quiet knock on the door. The entire class turned their heads and Snape seemed to hesitate before he roared.

"Come in" 

The door opened slowly and Harry strained him self to see who it was.

"E…excuse me professor Snape?" 

Harry remembered the petite and hesitating voice from yesterday and was surprise to see Rena in the doorway. He cast a quick look in Snape's direction and was almost shocked to see the reaction on his face. It looked liked all the color had drained from his face and he swallowed heavily, composed him self, and said in a voice that was almost pleasant.

"Yes miss Epans?" 

"Could I deliver something to Mr. Potter" she sounded more confident now and even before professor Snape had given his approval she started to walk down the row of students.

"You may" Snape replied and coughed slightly.

With small hurryingly steps Rena came towards Harry, pressed the essay in his hands and whispered "Sorry." She gave a small nod in Snape's direction before she hurried out and gently closed the dungeon door after her.

The class was silent for a while and Snape seemed to go through the events in his head. Then he shook the thoughts away and returned to his normal unpleasant self.

"Where were we….yes….Mr. Potter. You have failed to…."

"Here, sir" Harry said quickly. Professor Snape's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head and his lip curled again.

"And this is?"

"My essay sir" Harry said. Professor Snape grabbed the parchment suspiciously and unrolled it. He seemed to read through a couple of lines, before he rolled the parchment up again.

"Very well," he said. It looked as if he had bitten into something revolting, but was to polite so spit it out again " let us return to our class and let there be no more disturbances"

Thank you for reading and please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Please see part one.

_**Chapter two**_

"Did you see the look on Snape's face" Ron called exactingly when they walked out from the dungeons one hour later. "Was that Rena? Shes got guts!"

"Maybe she is Professor Snape's favorite" Hermione said in a voice Harry did not know how to interpreter.

"You kidding? Snape only favors the Slytherins." He paused "Well, maybe she is…" Ron said thoughtfully. Hermione sighed, and then she hurried away.

Harry was silent. Sometimes he wondered if Snape never had experienced a happy moment in his life because he walked with a constant sourness around him that infected everybody else. But when Rena had walked inn there really had been something strange about the way he reacted. Almost as if he had seen a ghost, a particular evocative ghost

Harry had no more time to muse about the incident since their timetable gave them a busy day. They spent the next two hours in Professor Trelawneys stifling room and she gave a mournful sigh every time she saw Harry. Ron rolled his eyes when Trelawney passed them and muttered that she was a crazy cow. This somewhat cheered Harry up.

They didn't see Hermione again before lunch when she sat down opposite of Harry and Ron and let out an exhausted sigh. She quickly started to fill up on her plate and eat so quickly that even Ron looked nauseated.

"Whats the hurry" he asked and wrinkled his nose.

"Library" Hermione muttered and continued to dive in.

"I should say thanks to Rena" Harry mumbled mostly to him self.

"What did you say, mate?"

"I should say thanks to Rena" Harry repeated a little louder this time "She did save me from detention. How did she know that my second class today was Potions?"

"Maybe Ginny saw her and told her," Ron suggested.

It wasn't difficult to spot Renas huddled form by the Ravenclaw table it was quit distinguishable by her dark and scruffy hair. She was sitting at the far end next to a girl with pasty blond hair and large pale eyes. She looked up when she saw Harry coming towards her, so did a number of other Ravenclaw students.

"Hello" he said.

"Um, hi" she replied.

Suddenly Harry discovered that he was in a slightly uncomfortable situation. A number of Ravenclaw students were looking at him with interested, and when he noticed Cho Chang he tried to hide the blush that spread across his face.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving me today" he said brightly and cleared his throat.

"Saving you….?" Rena asked.

"Professor Snape was about to give me detention when you showed up" he explained.

"Oh" she paused "I am sorry. I was in such a hurry yesterday…I had…." She trailed off. The girl sitting next to her looked at Harry with a dreamingly expression.

"You are Harry Potter," she said matter-of-factly.

"I know" Harry responded. A few students giggled.

The girl continued to look at him as if he was a slightly interesting insect. Harry shifted the weight from his feet uneasily.

"Well, yes. Bye then" he said and turned quickly around and hurried back to his seat feeling his ears burn with embarrassment. What in Merlins name had he been thinking?

"Something wrong? " Ron asked when he returned and Harry shook his head.

"Where did Hermione go?" he asked, hoping to change the topic of the conversation.

"Library." Ron said a little sourly. "If she keeps up with all this studying she is going to give the rest of us a bad name"

"Ron…you almost never do any study anyway."

Ron only rolled his eyes and then continued to eat his Yorkshire pudding.

Next morning opened with a promising of a fine September day and there was a small hint of winter in the air. Harry and Ron chattered eagerly about the upcoming Quidditch season as they walked back, towards the castle, from their first class, Care of Magical Creature.

"I think Hagrid has lost his spirit" Hermione said, interrupting their conversation.

"I know" Harry sighed "It's that stupid Malfoys fault"

"Do you think he is going to lecture about Flobberworms the rest of the semester?" Ron asked and kicked a rock angrily.

Suddenly they heard a loud scream. The other Gryffindors and some of the Slytherins stopped walking and stared in the direction of the noise. They saw a student running towards the castle. When she saw them she changed direction and came running towards them. Her eyes were puffy and red from tears and her face was as white as a sheet.

"Is…is there a teacher here?" The student stuttered between sobs.

"What's going on?".

"I think she is dead!"

Hagrid must have heard the noise because suddenly he loomed behind them. He placed a gigantic, but comforting, hand on the girl's shoulder and asked calmly.

"What is goin on?"

The girl was still stuttering and sobbing and it took a few minutes before she managed to calm her self enough to make some sense. "I….She just….I t..think…she is dead" she pointed in the direction of the Greenhouses.

A lot of students were gathered in a crowd outside one of the greenhouses and more students were flocking towards the commotion. Hagrid shaded his eyes from the sharp autumn sun, a look of concern filled his eyes and then he started to run.

"Come on" Hermione urged and started to sprint quickly towards the direction of the sound. The other Gryffindor students and most of the Slytherins quickly spilled after them.

The huge form of Hagrid easily cut through the crowd and Harry, Hermione and Ron followed in his wake. Around them students stood staring scared-eyed at the motionless form on the ground. Some of the students were crying, and Harry saw Professor Sprout standing still with her hands covering her mouth and slowly shaking her head.

She seemed to relax a little when she saw Hagrid and said.

"I don't know what happened. She was not near any of the poisonous plants or anything!"

Suddenly the crowd gasped in fear and in union took a step backwards. The student of the ground started to twitch violently. Suddenly she flung her head to the side and she gave a loud, disgusting, retching sound. Slime, blood and some dark undistinguishable material pooled on the ground next to her head.

Hermione was covering her mouth and Ron looked sickly green as well. His memory of vomiting slugs was quickly re-appearing in his memory, and suddenly he dashed away. Harry was amazed that Hagrid managed to remain so calm. He bent down and took a closer look at the student, and then he turned to Harry.

"Harry, lend me your cloak" he ordered stiffly and wordlessly Harry handed it to him. The girl was still twitching and retching and deep growls were escaping from her throat. Hagrid covered her in Harrys cloak and then lifted her up in his arms. She fidget against his grip, and something that sounded like a cat's snarls lashed out from her twitching form.

"Professor Sprout. If ye would alert Professor Snape and Professor Lupin"

Professor Sprout nodded and then quickly her short form disappeared towards the castle.

"You others go back to your class" Hagrid ordered and there was something about his tone of voice that made nobody argue. Then, he to walked towards the castle.

The crowd slowly broke apart and the students started to walk away. They were all murmuring about what happened, some were wiping the tears away. Finally only Harry, Hermione, and Ginny remained.

"It's never been this bad" Ginny muttered wringing her hands.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"That was Rena. She sometimes has these seizures, she would normally just collapse, but did you see the way she was twitching. It looked like she was possessed!"

"Maybe she was" Hermione said thoughtfully "I mean, why else would Hagrid tell Professor Sprout to fetch Professor Lupin?"

"Maybe she was poisoned" Ginny continued "and that is why they….." she stopped as she realized how ridicules her line of thoughts were.

"Possessed and poisoned?" Harry asked critically.

"But…who and why would someone try to possess or poison a student?"

"Who would what?" Ron asked as he came walking back from some bushes. He was still looking a little green and uncomfortable.

"Maybe somebody wanted to possess Rena" Ginny explained and filled Ron in on what had happened since he dashed away.

"I bet it was Snape" Ron said automatically when Ginny had finished her explaining. Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Just yesterday you agreed that she probably was Professor Snapes favorite"

Ron was about to argue, but then realized the holes in his defense.

"Maybe it was some allergic reaction?" Harry mused and the other started at him dumfound.

"I mean…there are some people who are allergic to milk, egg or chocolate…"

"You have a point" said Hermione thoughtfully "that is probably it. Maybe a bee stung her! I have heard that people who are allergic to bees have severe seizures. "

"Allergic?" Ron asked again, and for the first time Harry realized that it was maybe an unknown illness in the magical world. If they had potions to re-grow bones then maybe they had a cure to allergies as well.

"It means that your body can't tolerate certain stuff….like chocolate. You can get a rash, a headache or something….in worst cases it can be deadly"

"Eating chocolate can kill you?" Ron said horrified.

"Well…." Harry started but was interrupted by Ginny.

"You said bee-stings were the worst kind?"

"Yes." Hermione nodded "sometimes people die from it, if they don't get medicine quickly. Maybe they bee-stings are stronger here than normal bees…." She mused.

"Anyways…bees in September" Ginny said unbelievingly.

"And if it was just some allergic reaction why call in Professor Lupin and Snape?" Harry asked. Hermione was about to argued, but then sighed deeply and relaxed her arms. on….we are already late for class" she said and that was the end of the discussion.

When Rena opened her eyes her view was a hazy blur of colors. The sounds and smells suddenly thundered through her head and her body jerked as if it tried to wring them out. Her hands flew to her ears to cover them and she squeezed her eyes shut. Even with her eyes closed she could see her surroundings in a pulsating cloud of shapes and colors.

Then the rumbling sounds subsided and the visions faded. Slowly her eyes fluttered open and she squinted her eyes in the bright light that shone in her eyes and she shut them again and whimpered.

"Are you trying to blind her?" a voice demanded angrily.

"Calm down….is the potion ready?" a calm and soothing voice asked.

"I'll just go and get it"

She opened her eyes again and stared directly into a pair of deep old eyes and lot of white beard.

"How are you feeling?"

Rapacious was the description that popped into her head.

"As if all my intestines just burst through my body," she croaked in a hoarse voice.

The bearded face wrinkled in something between a grimace and an amusement.

"That was indeed a very graphic description"

Rena sat up and discovered that she was in the hospital wing. Her senses were still sharpened and the sickly smell of herbs and medicine stung her nose.

"Do you know what just happened?" Professor Dumbledore asked and tilted his head.

"I….it was like…" she did not have time to finish before Professor Snape entered looking unusually grim.

"Up again I see" he said. She ran a hand through her hair and then nodded.

"Here" he said a little more softly and handed her a small bottle containing a smoking liquid. Her nose wrinkled in familiar disgust, but she swallowed the liquid quickly and then grimaced.

"Now….we need to discuss this" Professor Dumbledore said.

"Why is he here?" Professor Snape said and cast the fourth person in the room an untrusting glance.

Rena looked at the man sitting in a chair in the other end of the room. He looked even grimmer than Snape. He was wearing a parched and frayed robe, he had longish brown hair flecked with gray. He looked quit young but at the same time old and exhausted.

At Snapes response he just returned his glare, but then his brown eyes softened.

Rena knew who it was. It was her Defense Against Dark Art teacher, Professor Lupin. With her senses still in a heightened state she had no trouble seeing what he really was.

"You are a werewolf to," she said.

Thank you for reading and please review.

A/N. Well, yes, I realize the plot has become somewhat of a cliché, but the reason something turns into a cliché is that it is good and people like it. I promise you that mine, however, will be different.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: see part one.

_**Chapter three.**_

"Rena….what happened today, has it happened before?" Professor Dumbledore asked and took a seat next to her bed.

"Never so…intense" she said and shuddered at the memory.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…sometimes I feel the wolf…lurking at my mind. As it draws nearer to a full moon, the feeling…the power of the wolf grows stronger. I can control it…. force it into submission…but …" she stopped talking and looked down at her hands.

She still had dirt under her fingernails from clawing at the earth. She couldn't remember exactly what happened, but it was like she was somewhere in her own mind watching her own body. It felt as if she lost control of her actions, like there was something inside her wanting to burst out.

"When did it start?" Dumbledore asked.

"Summer I think…. a few weeks before school."

"I started making twice the dosage," Professor Snape explained.

"Wait…." Lupin said and scratched his hair "how come….." he trailed off and looked towards professor Dumbledore for an explanation. The headmaster looked at Snape and the potion master crossed his arms across his chest. There was something about his posture that reminded Rena about a fox protecting its territory.

"Shes my niece" he said sternly.

Lupins eyes widened in shock. It had never accrued to him that Snape had family, the sheer thought of there being more Snapes was almost revolting. But he subsisted his comments and instead stared at Rena with a new interest.

She did not look anything like Snape at all, and he thought the girl lucky for not inheriting any of the Snape family traits. She was slim, maybe even a too thin and bony but still muscular. Her bangs hung down over her brown eyes and her hair was a shade of black…he seemed to have seen before. She didn't have Snapes hooked nose, greasy hair, pasty skin or… Suddenly he chided himself for thinking such thoughts and shook his head.

"How does it feel, Rena?" Dumbledore asked carefully.

Rena hesitated before she answered. She knew what this was leading to; when she first felt the symptoms she had started reading about it. Sometimes the wolf took over and the human part lost control. When that happened the body would stay in wolf-shape and not return.

This was what they feared.

And that was she feared to, not for her own part. She was afraid of losing control and hurt someone, what if she had lost control outside today? What if she had lashed out on the students hurt them or even killed them. She shivered by thought and in her mind she pictured her self in the middle of a pool of blood and thorn body parts.

What would they do to her? Lock her up in some deep dungeon? Pump her full of relaxing medicaments so she didn't have the strength to do anything? Tie her up with chains made of silver? Or would they let her lose in the Forbidden Forest and then she would roam until her mind went crazy and she forgot her human part.

There had to be a way to cure this, to control the wolf.

She shrugged. "Like I have to flue or something" she lied. "Or have eaten something my stomach does not like"

Professor Lupin looked at her intently and she avoided his stare and turned her gaze to her uncle. She couldn't read his expression. He was looking at Professor Lupin as if he was being a fussy student or a nasty insect, in her uncle's opinion they were both the alike. There seemed to be some unresolved issues between them, a mutual agreement on hating each other.

"Hm…."Professor Dumbledore mused.

"When were you bitten?" Lupin asked breaking the sour tension that hung in the air.

"I don't remember" Rena said slowly and cast a look in her uncle's direction. He was slowly shaking his head. "I was very young"

"I did have some troubles during my teens as well" Lupin went on "but never as violent as you did….maybe it has something to do with you being so young when you were bitten. I'll need to research it" He rose from his chair.

"Ill talk to you later" he said, and Rena wondered to whom he was referring to.

Professor Remus Lupin paced his office slowly, hands on his back and his head bent. It was a long time since he had met another werewolf and he had never met anybody this young. He saw down in his chair and ran a hand through his thin hair and then sighed deeply.

Maud Rena Epans.

Epans you did not need to be a genius to see that it was simply Snape spelled backwards. The thought of Severus nice came back to haunt him and he laughed a little at the thought. Uncle Severus.!

He had read in her school files that Snape was listed as her guardian, besides that there stood nothing else. The strangest thing was that there wasn't listed a date of birth. They were hiding something and he got just as curious as what they were hiding as why they were hiding it.

Rena had hardly looked at him since she got released from the Hospital Wing and every time he tried to get a word with her she ran away. Even Snape was showing some other emotion than hate, he seemed worried.

Her violent sickness was also alarming him. He had heard about people who were overcome by the wolf blood and never returned to their human form. But Rena had almost been in the stage of changing, in broad daylight! When they had brought her into the Hospital Wing her ears had lengthened, her eyes had turned to amber and fur was covering her hands.

Suddenly he heard a sound from the corridor. He opened the door and saw Harry Potter wandering alone in the corridor.

"What are you doing?" he asked, "Where is Ron and Hermione?"  
"Hogsmeade" Harry replied sourly.

Lupin considered this for a moment and then said, "Why don't you come in."

When Harry left Lupins office later he was feeling much better. Harrys spirit, had been soaring ever since the superb Quidditch practices, but as the first week of Hogsmeade approached it had been ebbing away. The school had been full of excited talk about what they were going to do once they reached Hogsmeade.

Since his uncle had not signed the permission slip and because Sirius Black was after him Harry wasn't allowed to visit the city with the rest of his friends.

Ron tried to cheer Harry up by talking about the Halloween feast, but Harry could not seem to be excited about anything. He had gloomily watched his friends leave full of promises to bring him sweets.

Talking with Lupin had certainly cheered him up, but seeing Lupin drink something Snape had made was throughout alarming. There had been a look in Snapes face Harry had liked…less than normal. He had looked at Lupin loathingly and at Harry warningly.

Maybe Professor Snape was trying to poison Lupin? Maybe he even could have poisoned Rena that day? Harry needed to share his thoughts with Ron and Hermione when they returned.

When he rounded the corner towards the library Harry walked straight into her. If Professor Lupin could be described as ill, Rena looked like she was ready to drop dead. Her face was in a ghastly pale condition, her eyes were almost completely black and she had large circles under her eyes. He suddenly remembered the last time he had seen her, when she had been twitching and retching blood on the school grounds.

"Sorry" Harry muttered, somehow unable to meet her gaze.

"Its all right" she said and started to gather the books she had dropped.

"You are doing a lot of reading" Harry stated.

"Y…yes. Advanced Potions you know"

Harry picked up a particular large book; it was bound in red skin and was frayed at the edges. "Um…that one belong to Professor Snape" Rena quickly snatched it out of his hands. "I better go return it to him" she muttered, and then she disappeared the down the corridor towards the library. Harry stared at her for a long time and then shrugged.

Harry listened to Ron and Hermiones eager telling of Hogsmeade. They had visited the Derish and Banges, the shop that sold wizard equipment, Zonkos Joke Shop were they, of course, ran into Fred and George and the Three Broomsticks for foaming mugs of Butterbeer.

Hermione who sensed Harrys sullen mood quickly changed the subject before Ron started telling about the sweetshop.

"Did you get any work done, Harry?" she asked.

"No. Lupin made me a cup of tea in his office and then Snape came in with some strange smoking goblet and Lupin drank it"

Rons mouth fell open "he drank it? Is he crazy?"

"Maybe Snape is trying to poison him?" Harry said. Then he told them of ill Lupin had looked and he elaborated his theory that he maybe had poisoned Rena has well.

"She looked just as ill as Lupin" Harry ended.

Ron stared at him with wide eyes and it looked as if all his conspiracy theories had come true. Hermione on the other hand gave a loud annoyed puff and said.

"Honestly. You think Professor Snape would poison a teacher just to get the job! Do you really think he would have done it in front of Harry! And why would he want to poison a student!"

"I do not know…." Ron started but Hermione cut him off "and don't say he did it to get back at Rena for interrupting him in class. If he really was that sour, we would be dead long ago"

Harry had to admit that after listening to Hermiones words of wisdom his ideas seemed too far-fetched to be true.

"I still think Snape is up to something," Harry said. Hermione looked at her watch and said, "we better hurry down, the Halloween feast will be starting in five minutes"

"I would like to see you after class, Mr. Potter" Harrys head shot up from his notes and he answered automatically "Yes, sir."

"In trouble again, Potter" Malfoy leered and Grabbe and Goyle sniggered.

"Did I do anything?" Harry hissed to Ron.

Ron shrugged and answered "I dunno…probably wore the wrong socks or something. Ill wait for you outside."

The class ended and the students hurried to escape from the dungeons as quickly as possible. Harry saw Ron and Hermione send him a worried glance, while Malfoy drew his hand across his throat and grinned evilly.

Harry quickly swooped his books down in his bag and then slowly walked towards the desk. Professor Snape was sorting some papers and he seemed oblivious to the fact that Harry was standing in front of him. Harry waited anxiously a few minutes and then cleared his throat.

"You wanted to see me professor."

"Yes, Mr. Potter" He looked up from his papers and stared at Harry with his narrow eyes filled with dislike as ever.

"This is about your essay, Mr. Potter" Professor Snape said "You did…. and I will be the first to deny it, extraordinary well" his lips curled, but it wasn't the malevolent grin it used to be. "I am going to take a wild guess, and say that you did not do this work on your own. Mr. Potter"

Harry tightened his fists and wondered if Snape was going to accuse him of cheating.

"I had help sir, if that is what you mean" Harry said slowly, wondering what Snape wanted.

"Indeed, and it was not Miss Granger who helped you either. Tell me Mr.Potter, when did you get on friendly terms with Miss Epans?"

What was this all about, Harry wondered.

"I….I met her once, sir. In the library and she helped me" he paused and added what he hoped Snape wanted to hear " I am not on friendly terms with her, professor."

An emotion flickered across Snapes face and he seemed to relax a little.

"Very well, Mr. Potter" he said and the tone of his voice suggested that Harry better keep the relationship that way. This made Harry wanting to do the complete opposite.

Thank you for reading and please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: see part one.

_**Chapter four.**_

"Are you still saying that he isn't out to get a student?" Ron said in a voice that was a little too loud for Harry and Hermiones liking. A few Gryffindor students looked in their direction interestingly "Maybe this is some vengeful vendetta, like Harry" Ron said in a lowered voice after an angry hiss from Hermione.

"What about Sirius Black" Harry mused. "We still haven't figured out how he got in." Ron set his face in a thoughtful frown but Hermione gave a deep sigh and said "There is nothing we can do about Black, Harry. For once let the teacher deal with the problem"

"She is right, mate" Ron agreed. "If Black could enter the castle he must be a pretty powerful and-" he cut Hermione off before she could repeat that Black couldn't have Apparated into the castle "-smart, if he managed to get in here without using magic."

"You are right" Harry sighed. "But what about Professor Lupin? Do you think he is in danger?"

"Feh. The way he looks, the common cold would be enough to kill him"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time there is something going on with a Defense of Dark Art teacher" Harry said "We seem to go through them quickly"

"One dead, one lost his mind" Ron said counting them off on his fingers "and now Professor Lupin…whatever is going to happen to him? What do you think Hermione?"

"I think you are seeing ghost by daylight" she sighed. She seemed to be tired of their continuing discussing and had already opened her schoolbooks.

"Eh….you do to, all the time, look there is Nearly Headless Nick and-"

"Never mind Ron, it's a muggle saying" she said a little more angrily then she meant. "Look, can we just get some homework done?"

"I think there is defiantly a connection" Harry mused "Snape very much did not want me to get friendly with Rena"

"Maybe you could just ask her?" Hermione suggested tiredly.

"Or Hagrid" Ron said. They stared at him blankly. "Well, you know. When she got sick that day wasn't he the one who went all Commando Man. I think he knows more than he is letting on"

"For once…I agree with Ron," said Hermione and Ron gave a triumphant look.

"We'll go and talk to him. You concentrate on winning the Quidditch match!"

Rena chewed her bottom lip anxiously and studied the ancient drawing of a werewolf. The creature looked like a normal wolf, but its limbs were longer, the snout shorter and the body bonier. It was tied up, spread eagle, and four men were flawing it. It was an appalling scene and Rena shuddered.

"_Unable to find even the slightest trace of humanity_" the capitation under the picture read.

Is this what I look like she wondered and turned the page unable to stare at the tortured beast any longer.

"It was believed that a moon-rock would cure a person from the werewolf curse. This turned out to be wrong; the lunar power of a moon-rock will immediately draw forth the wolf, even in broad daylight, and the person would go insane. "

"Lunatic, from Latin meaning moon-madness" Rena muttered and closed the book.

She rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked at the large watch on the library wall. Its hands were nearing "Closing time." She had spent the whole day reading everything she could find about werewolves, but there was nothing that she hadn't read before. Sighing miserably she gathered her books and walked out.

What if there is no cure she thought what if I am really turning into a full blood werewolf? What if I lose control? she pressed the books tighter against her chest as if they were protecting her or offering her comfort. Her eyes watered and she pressed the sleeve of her robes against her face.

She thought about her uncle, the only family she had. He had taken her inn, fed her, clothed her and raised her. What would she do without him? She knew how unpopular, maybe even hated, he was among both students and faculty but that wasn't the person she knew. Maybe he was strict and demanding, but it was these two traits that had helped her overcome the ghosts from her childhood. She wanted him to be proud enough of her to acknowledge their relation in the open, to let her bear his name.

She needed to find a cure.

"Miss Epans, just the student I was looking for. May I have a word?" Rena turned around and saw Professor Lupin biding her in to his office. She hesitated. She had tried to avoid him ever since she discovered that he was a werewolf. She had never met another werewolf before and she wasn't sure that getting to know one was such a good idea, maybe it would strengthen the wolf.

"Is it important Professor?"

"Yes" he said firmly.

She followed Lupin into his office. The walls were covered with shelves filled with books and glasses of unknown substances. In the corner was a tank filled with water and a green creature, with sharp horns had, its face pressed against the glass. He was pulling faces and flexing its long and thin fingers.

"Grindylow" Lupin explained.

"I know" Rena replied awkwardly. "It's a water demon. It lives in marshes and stagnate pools. It waits for children and then drags them underwater before it eats them"

"Very good" Lupin smiled. "You want some tea?"

"No, sir"

Rena sat uncomfortable in the chair, wringing her hands in her lap and hoping that this meeting would end as soon as possible. Lupin didn't seem to notice her unease, because he took his time, making the tea and pouring it slowly into his cup and conjuring a plate of biscuits.

"Miss Epans" he said, unsure where to start. "We need to discuss what happened…and what is happening to you"

"Nothing is happening, sir" she said hastily.

"I am quite sure that you recognize…or at least have read about your symptoms. You are aware that you might turn change permanently," he said calmly.

Rena looked down at her hands and tightened them into fists.

"Yes, sir" she acknowledged in a low voice, and then looked up "but…it won't happen. I have it under control"

"It?"

"The…wolf, sir"

Lupin took a sip of his tea and studied her carefully. He had never met somebody who referred to werewolf as she did. Most people avoided talking about it, even he didn't like to admit what he was and looked at it as a disease. She treated it as if it was an animal, or a human being.

"Miss Epans…how long have you been…." He trailed off, unable to even speak the word.

"A long time, sir"

"And when did the…." He trailed off again. She looked up from her lap again and caught his gaze. Her brown eyes twinkled.

"Are you afraid of it, sir?" She asked, her voice growing stronger.

"Of course I am," he admitted softly. " When I change, I lose all control, I would even turn on my best friend and not know it. It's only the potion that keeps me calm. Don't it scare you?"  
"Yes" she said "but I'm not afraid of the wolf sir, only of losing control of it. I…" she stopped.

"What?"

"Nothing, sir"

Rena didn't know how to explain how it felt. The wolf had been a part of her as long as she could remember. Turning into a werewolf every full moon was extremely painful and nauseating…but it wasn't scary. Maybe she had been a werewolf for so long that she was used to. She remembered vaguely the one time it had been scary. She had been in a cold and dark place and all around her there had been the coppery smell of blood and rotting flesh. The wolf's blood lust had been so intense that all she remembered was seeing the world through a bloody haze.

"How did you figure out that I was a….werewolf?" Professor Lupin asked and folded his hands in front of his face.

"You…smelled like it" she grimaced "sometimes…the senses linger"

"Did you parents know you were a werewolf?"

Rena looked down at her hands again, unable to meet his eyes. He continued to talk, telling her that there wasn't any mention of her parents in the records, not even her birthday.

How could she tell him that she didn't know when she was born? Nobody knew. She didn't even remember her parents. The years before she moved in with her uncle was a fuzzy blur of faces and voices that she didn't want to remember.

"It…is really none of you business, sir" she said and swallowed heavily. Lupin hadn't expected this and his cup stopped midway towards his lips.

"Why are you asking all these questions, sir? My personal life is none of your concern"

"I am just curious…I have never met anybody a…you know…at your age," he said soothingly trying to calm her down.

"You can't even say it, can you sir?" Rena felt her anger growing. "If it's any consolation we are wolves living with humans. There is a word for that." Without even waiting for his answer, Rena rose from her chair, grabbed her books and walked out of the office.

The corridor was empty and her steps made hollow echoes as she hurried towards the Ravenclaw dormitory. "You have been very rude to a teacher," a picture scolded. Rena growled, literally, and the picture looked nervously at the young girl disappearing down the hall.

"That isn't a normal student" the picture huffed and the painting hanging next to it agreed cheerfully.

"I know, she's barking mad."

Thank you for reading and please review.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: see chapter one.

_**Chapter five.**_

Harry Potter stared miserably down at the remains of his beloved Nimbus 2000. The sadness of losing the match was only topped by the destruction of his faithful broom. Madam Pomfrey had insisted on keeping him in the Hospital Wing over the weekend and right now he was to distress to even protest.

Even though the others had tried to hide it and show their concern for him, he knew the rest of the Quidditch team was thoroughly disappointed. Not only did they lose the match, but also there was no hope of winning the House Cup.

He had not told anybody about what had happened to him when he saw the Dementors. He did not know how they would react if he told them that he had heard his mother plead for his life. His body chilled just by the thought of it and his eyes filled with tears.

Why was he the only one who reacted to the Dementors that way? Nobody else grew numb and fainted. Then the memory of the Grim returned to him, and he shook his head angrily. He hadnt told Ron and Hermione about it because he knew Ron would be afraid and Hermione would roll her eyes at him. There was no way he was going to let some death-omen get the better of him.

Harry closed his eyes and feel into a deep and restless sleep with visions of clammy rotting hands and the pleading voice of his dying mother.

Monday morning he was allowed to return and it was a pleasure to go back to noise and hustle and bustle school. It was a joy to be thinking about other things, even if it involved Draco Malfoy taunting him and pretending to faint and fall of his broom.

"Hermione, check if Snape is teaching again, because then I will suddenly develop a terrible disease," Ron muttered as they headed towards the Defense Against Dark Art class. Hermione popped her head around the corner and smiled.

"Don't worry, Professor Lupin is back."

It really looked like Lupin had been ill, his skin was pastier and his robes hung more loosely on him. Nevertheless he smiled and welcomed the class that immediately burst out in a tremendous roar on what they felt about Professor Snape.

"Two scrolls on werewolves" Seamus Finnigan exclaimed "and we know nothing about them!"

"Didn't you tell him that you haven't covered that yet," Lupin asked.

The class started to mutter again.

"We tried to tell him-"

"He was only filling in and-"

"-He is such a stupid sod"

Professor Lupin held up his hands in surrender and the babble slowly stopped.

"I'll have a word with Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay"

When the bell rang and the lesson ended, everyone gathered up their things. "Lupin is gotta be the best teacher ever" Ron said cheerfully and Harry agreed heartily.

"Mr. Potter, may I have a word?" Lupin called as Harry headed towards the door.

"Ill meet you downstairs!" said Ron and disappeared in the crowd.

"Did you try talking to Hagrid?" Harry asked as they gathered around the lunch table.

"We did," said Hermione "but he was to upset about Buckbeak Whenever we tried to ask him what happened, he just started to talk about what a nice creature Buckbeak is."

"You know what… I have been thinking" Ron started and got interrupted by Hermione snorting "-thats a first…" Ignoring her, he continued.

"Rena…she helped you with your Potion homework, right?" Ron asked and Harry nodded.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you" he said excitingly. Harry rummaged around in his bag and withdrew a crumbled heap of parchment. "Snape gave me top grades on it!"

Ron stared at it wide-eyed and grabbed it as if to test its authentic.

"Snape gave you top grade! Even Hermione didn't manage that."

Hermione looked away and her face darkened for a moment. She quickly busied her self with placing sandwiches on her plate and asking someone to pass her the milk.

"Anyways…what was your plan, Ron?" Harry asked, sensing Hermiones dark mood.

"I bet Snape would absolutely hate it, if you asked if Rena could…I dunno, sorta give you extra potion lessons or something. That way you would get to know her better and youll get better grades!" Ron said cheerfully "Hey, even I could use some extra help"

"Dont you think Professor Snape will notice if Harrys grades suddenly got better? I mean, he noticed that Rena had helped him just by reading his essay….how did he notice that though…" Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Good question…"

Suddenly Ginny sat down next to them and with unnecessary force started to load up on her plate while muttering something that sounded like curses under her breath. Ron watched her with a frightened fascination, and even Fred and George stopped eating to watch her.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked carefully.

"It's that stupid, buffoon of an idiot Malfoy" Ginny said under her breath "Oh…I so would like to hex him!"

"What has he done this time?"  
"He keeps on interrupting our study-group by throwing ink-bombs, the kind that you can't magic away!" Ginny said and let out a deep breath, and suddenly her eyes started to fill with water.

"And now….my Potions books are completely ruined and I cant…." she trailed of and both she and Ron looked away.

Harry knew what they were thinking. The Weasleys never had much money and schoolbooks were very expensive.

"Don't worry" Hermione said soothingly and placed an arm around Ginny's shoulder. "I'll lend you mine. I will have Mom and Dad mail them to me as soon as possible."

After lunch the food and plates magically disappeared. A few of the elder students left, Fred and George looking vindictive, and the room was filled with the hustle and noise of students practicing their magic. Harry, who did not want to arrive completely unprepared for his first Anti-Dementor lesson with Professor Lupin, had taken out some books from the library and was for once reading enthusiastically.

Hermione was busy studying some very complex looking charts that she told them was Ancient runes, while Ron occupied him self with feverishly trying to make up what new disasters would occur in his life the next week, given the position of the moon.

"Ginny?" A small voice suddenly asked and they all looked up to see Rena.

"You forgot your notes," she said "There's ink on some of them, but you can copy mine if you like" she suggested.

"Did it get in your books to?" Ginny asked and Rena nodded.

"That dim-witted Malfoy" Ron offered as consolation. "If I see him again I will…"

"…You'll what, Weasley?" Draco Malfoys sharp dry voice asked. He looked at them all and snorted. Grabbe and Goyle snickered as always and Ron swallowed his breath.

"If it isn't the freak show! Famous Potter, Mudblood Granger, the Weasleys and…" he eyed Rena up and down looking for an appropriate name.

"You're a smart ass-Ravenclaw" he stated " joined the Potter fan-club have you." Rena withdrew her face in her robes like a turtle and didn't answer.

"Go away Malfoy" Harry said in a tired voice, he was in no mood to quarrel with him now.

"I can stand where I want, Potter," he said in the same voice somebody would say cockroach, "its a free school….even if it has gone to the dogs" He stared at Hermione and Rena.

"You're a mudblood too, aren't you? I can smell it."

"Shut up Malfoy!" Harry said his voice growing agitated. Draco Malfoy crossed his arms over his chest and snorted angrily. "Defending the weak are we Potter. To bad you cant defend your self against the Dementors…" Grabbe and Goyle sniggered again.

"Give me that" Draco said suddenly trying to pull the books out of Renas gasp. She held on firmly and showed a surprising amount of strength for such a puny body. Harry and Ron had risen and Harry was flexing his hands furiously.

"Stop it Malfoy, and go away!" he ordered.

Malfoy won the tug of war and the book ripped at the seam, the pages fluttered at the floor. Rena stared at her ruined book horror-struck, she didn't say anything but started to gather up the lose pages quickly.

"Look what you did!" Ron called angrily.

Malfoys lip curled and he shrugged. "Feh, that wouldn't have happened if she could afford new books!"

Ron was about to jump across the table and at Malfoys throat, but Harry held him back and nudged his shoulder. Professor Snape was coming in their direction, walking with short and quick steps. His face was set in an emotionless stone mask, but his eyes were like an angry storm.

Rena quickly straightened up, the papers fluttering to the floor again. She stared down in the ground and shuffled her feet anxiously. Ron and Harry sat down quickly, but Malfoy set his face in a triumphant grin.

"Is there a problem here?" Professor Snape asked in a low and tight voice.

"Somebody can't seem to take care of their books, Professor" Malfoy said in a bittersweet voice and indicated to the thorn pages on the floor and then he held up Ginnys ink stained books. Ginny had turned brightly red and her lower lip was quivering in fear and hatred

"I despise being lied to so boldly Mr. Malfoy, especially when I have seen the truth with my own eyes" he spoke slowly and it took them a couple of minutes to register what he was saying. Malfoys face fell and Grabbe and Goyle quickly stared to back off.

"I hate even more to take points from my own house, but you leave me with no choice" he was biting off the words as he spoke them and Malfoy was looked shocked and bewildered.

"Twenty points from Slytherin and you will re-place both Ms. Epans and Ms. Weasleys books. Do I make my self clear or do I need to write a letter to your father?" Snape asked and leaned closer to Malfoy. Malfoy shook his head quickly and swallowed heavily.

"Very well. In the future I would appreciate it immensely" he paused "if you would stay out of trouble" Malfoy nodded eagerly and Snape gave a pleasant smile that only a snake could manage.

"Now, Ms. Epans, a word in my office, if I may…." Snape turned around, his black cloak swirling, and started to walk away. Rena bent down and quickly gathered her papers and then she gave them an embarrassed look before she hurried after him. Malfoy snorted and then he to left, leaving the others dumbstruck.

"Was that Snape!" Ron finally exploded.

"What happened to him?" Ginny asked "Is he sick?"  
"Hope it lasts" Harry muttered still bewildered.

"Maybe somebody put a charm on him?" Ron suggested.

"I loved the look on Malfoys face though" Hermione said and smiled.

"I have never seen him so pissed-off!" Harry continued "and he usually gets angry just by seeing me"

Thank you for reading and please review.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: see chapter one.

_**Chapter six.**_

I need to find out when she was bitten Lupin thought and looked for the hundredth time through Rena's school records. She wasn't doing very well in any of the subjects involving wand waving and according to Hagrid she was a disaster in Care of Magical Creatures. No surprise there, other animals can sense lycanthrope and loathe Werewolves. I wonder if Hagrid knows what she is…

She was doing brilliant in Herbology and- a little to Lupins disliking- she was simply a genius when it came to Potion making and Snape had even taken it upon himself to teach her advance Potions. In Madam Hoochs opinion "_Miss Epans has an instinctive fear and disliking for heights which is what keeps her broom on the ground." _Generally the professors described her as quiet, book-smart student.

He thought about her in Defense Against the Dark Arts. All the essays she wrote were clearly above her educated level, she never failed to answer a question, but when it came to practical magical she always tried to make her self, invisible. Not to mention that after she found out he to was a werewolf, and their unsuccessful talk, she had tried to stay as far away from him as possible.

Her lack in skills in practical magic was a symptom that from time to time occurred in children with muggle parents. Their magical skills sometimes developed slower than children with wizarding parents.

Snapes niece. Lupin mused. If he is her uncle by marriage it is going to be almost impossible to figure out who her parents are… or was. I don't think I will be very popular if I start asking questions about the Snape family with the Minister of Magic either. But if one of her parents was a muggle, it means I can probably find some information about them in the muggle-world. Maybe I will have time during the holidays….

Two weeks before the end of the term the gray weather turned chilly and on one morning the day broke to a chiseling snow covered ground. In the castle there was a hustle of Christmas in the air. Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, had decorated his classroom with shimmering lights that turned out to be real. The students were discussing their plans for the upcoming holiday and their excitement of seeing their families again.

Both Ron and Hermione had decided to stay in school to keep Harry company and he was very grateful. What didn't make him happy though, was that there was another trip to Hogsmeade before the end of the term.

Heavily wrapped up their cloaks and scarves they waved goodbye and Harry was stuck with the fact that he was the only third-year left in school. It had started to snow and Harry decided to visit Hagrid, hoping that the visit might cheer him up.

Outside it had started snowing again and thick flakes were fluttering down like feathers from the grayish sky. Feeling lonely and unhappy and the weather matching his mood, Harry decided to take a detour and headed towards the lake.

Even from a distance and with the thick snow, he could see a person standing alone staring out over the frozen pond. He didn't know how he knew it was she; maybe he recognized her huddled form or her raven locks dancing in the wind.

"Hello?" he offered and stood next to her. Her sleeve quickly touched her face and for a moment Harry wondered if she had been crying.

"H...hello, Harry" she muttered. She tucked an irritating strain of hair behind her ear, but it quickly loosened and continued to flap in the wind.

"Er…"Harry said hesitatingly wondering what to talk about.

"Aren't all the third years in Hogsmeade?" Rena asked.

"I can't go. My uncle didn't sign my permission slip and Professor McGonegall is really strict about details like that."

"Hm…."

There was an awkward pause and then she said.

"You live with your muggle relatives, right? I heard somebody mention it."

"Yes" Harry said and grimaced just by thinking about it.

"I live with my uncle as well" Rena said, not really talking to him, but staring out over the frozen lake. She was moving her feet uneasily and digging her hands into her pockets. "My mother was a muggle, my father a squib. A real shock to them that there was some magic in me" she gave an embarrassed laugh.

"Where did you grow up?" Harry asked.

"Scotland" she said, her Scottish becoming more apparent as she spoke about her family.

"Are going home for Christmas?"

Rena shook her head "my uncle is…working." She muttered and stared at the ground. She bent down, picked up a rock and hurled it over the frozen lake. The rock bounced a few times before it skidded a couple of meters and stopped.

"I always stay at Hogwarts for the holidays…I wish I could stay here at summer to" Harry muttered. He mimicked Renas move, but his stone flew even farther and broke the ice with a loud crack.

"Don't you like your family?" she asked.

"I hateem" Harry said solemnly.

"Still….they are you family, families take care of each other"

"You should tell that to my family" Harry snorted "The feeling of hate is mutual, I assure you"

"But they took you in, right?" asked Rena

"I have always wondered about that," Harry said slowly. Why hadn't his uncle and aunt just turned him over to some orphanage?

"Maybe they do care for you….deep down" she said slowly.

"You know what….a few of my friends and I usually gathers in the Great Hall to open our presents and have Christmas breakfast together on Christmas morning. You wanna join us?" Harry said, not really knowing why he invited her, he hadn't even talked to Ron and Hermione about it. "If you don't have any plans I mean…"

"Um…" Rena hesitated remembering the conversation with her uncle a few weeks ago. He had sternly said that making friends with Harry Potter was not a good idea. Mr. Potter had a bad habit of getting in trouble and dragging his friends with him. She should also stay away from Draco Malfoy who would do nothing then bring her difficulty and if he ever found out what she was, she could be sure she would be locked up somewhere.

"Maybe…" she said finally.

"Great" Harry said cheerfully "See you then!"

Harry walked away and Rena crouched down in the snow. Through the snow she thought she could just make out a large black animal walking on the other side. It stopped moving and turned its head in her direction and stared at her intently.

"The Grim…." She muttered and shuddered.

Usually Rena and her uncle would return home for the Christmas holidays. They lived in a large house (hidden from muggles of course) in Scotland's Black Moor. Providing there was not a full moon they would spend a quiet Christmas together not really doing anything.

Rena enjoyed walking in the snow covered moors and feel the chill rub her skin and paint red roses on her cheeks. The cold stinging her skin and the snow crunching under her boots made her feel really alive. She had never managed to convince her uncle to join her on her daily hikes, but he always had the fire ready when she returned.

It had always been just the two of them and Rena didn't even know if she had other family members anywhere. He took pride in teaching her everything he knew and they shared a few laughs of his stories about the faculty and some of the students. Their relationship was awkward, but they found some sort of lonely comfort in each other.

Rena had been disappointed to hear that they were not going home this year, and that she had to stay at school alone. The prospect of sharing a Christmas breakfast with other students had made her look forward to the holiday, and she was deeply disappointed when she walked into the Great Hall on Christmas morning and didn't see Harry or any of his friends.

Thinking she was early she sat down by the long table in the middle of the room a few seats away from some fifth-year Ravenclaws. She waited.

Students came and went and after an hour the food vanished and she sat alone in the Great Hall staring at her plate. Finally she left, not knowing why she felt so miserable and disappointed.

Outside it was still snowing and Rena trudged through the snow, her arms wrapped around her body to keep warm. She saw a couple of students enjoying a snowball fight and happy cheers and laughter filled the school ground. She walked aimlessly, kicking up snow and enjoying the crunching sound it made under her boots.

She knew she was doomed to be lonely. Her uncle had repeatedly warned her of letting people come to close. If anybody discovered she was a werewolf she would be shunned, hated and feared. If the wolf blood took over her body she would change permanently and she would end up wandering in some forest, reject by animals and humans. Was that a future to look forward too?

Rena had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice how far she had walked and suddenly she was at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, in the distance she could see smoke coming up from Hagrids hut. She decided to return to the castle and go to the library. If there was nothing else to do she always turned to the books.

Suddenly she became aware of mist like a frost-fog creping over the grounds. Rena looked in the direction of the forest and could see the smog billowing out from between the trees. She could see something coming towards her, but she couldn't identify it. The sky darkened and there was a sickening icy feel in the air. It was as if she suddenly was deaf and the snowflakes seemed to pause mid-air. She heard her heart beat two heavy and loud beats that sounded like the echo of dark drums.

Rena swallowed her breath and closed her eyes, trying to will the pain away. It felt as if blood veins were filled with acid, and her heart pounded viciously against her chest. She clutched her stomach and fell to her knees colors shimmering in front of her eyes.

The Change her mind registered and she looked up in blood filled eyes at the hooded creatures gliding towards her. I have to change.

There was a disgusting morphed sound and a faint change in the texture of reality. Her senses sharpened, she could hear the laughing students perfectly, and her eyes suddenly saw clearly in the dimmed light. She could feel her ears lengthening, her body protested in pain as her skeleton structure changed, her clothes ripped to shreds as her body grew and got covered with fur. She had a muzzle with lengthening fangs sharp as razor blades, her hands changed to paws and she could feel the power of her talons.

The wolf shook the snow off its body, and then it turned its eyes towards the approaching figures. Rena could feel that the wolf-body, her own body, tensed. For a moment she fought with the wolf's instinct and her own human will.

There was a feeling, as if she would never be happy again. Her mind started to play horrid scenes of blood and carnage and she tried to tell her self it was all in her imagination, but it was like trying to talk to a picture. The more she tried to tell her mind that she was just hallucinating, the more real it became. The more real she wanted them to be. She could almost feel the coppery smell of blood and she wanted to use her power to rip, to bite, and to kill.

The hooded black figures were only a few feet away now, and the sight of them filled her with such dread and terror that both the human and wolf decided to flee.

The power of the wolf lasted for only a few adrenalin filled moments. Rena felt she had some control of the fledging animal that ran so filled with fear she hardly knew where it was going.

"L…look, the Grim" somebody suddenly yelled.

"Lets go after it!"  
"Are you mad?"

She stood dazed staring at the two figures in front of her. She ran again, racing towards the only safe place she knew. Somehow she made her way back to the castle and to the Ravenclaw dorm without getting sighted. She tried to open the door but was like trying to walk down a flight of stairs while drunk. Paws scraped against the wood and finally she managed to produce a small gap and press her body through the opening.

Rena collapsed in a wet and trembling heap and just by sheer fear managed to turn back into her human body. There was the morphed sound and a horrible burning pain. Her body returned to normal, but the wolf's senses still lingered and the sounds came crashing around her like collapsing walls.

When it was all over she sat gasping in the corner of her room, her clothes torn to shreds and her heart pounding against her chest. She was soaked and shivering from fear and cold.

She knew what had happened.

She had changed during day, and she had changed back. Was this a warning sign that she didn't have much time left, or had those creatures caused it? What if it happened again, what if happened in the middle of the school? What if she had obeyed the little voices screaming for blood? She needed help, but she did not know whom to turn to.

Thank you for reading and please review.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: see part on. Chapter seven 

Harry Potter looked gloomily at the picture of the Firebolt and thought about the few happy moments when he had been the owner of one. He had been looking forward to playing Quidditch on it, and especially the look on Malfoys face as he soared past him.

Now, Professor McGonagall had taken it away to be stripped and searched for jinxes because she, like Hermione, thought Sirius Black had sent the broom.

Stripping down a Firebolt was nothing short of a crime.

The only thing he was looking forward to was his Anti-Dementor lessons with Professor Lupin. He was going to have his first lesson this night and couldn't wait to learn how to ward of those demons. He would no longer have to endure Malfoys taunting…and most importantly of all, he would no longer have to listen to his mother dying.

Harry didn't know why thinking about Professor Lupin reminded him about Rena. Maybe it was because they both had the shabby and depressed look, but suddenly he grew very pink. He had forgotten about the plans he had made with her.

After loosing his Firebolt he had been so upset that he and Ron had walked down to Hagrid. Trying to cheer up Hagrid in his upcoming trial with Buckbeak had made him forget about the Firebolt for a few minutes.

Then, on their way back both he and Ron had seen the Grim.

Harry still shuddered when he thought about it. The Grim had stood in the middle of the road, looking at them with a hungry expression. Maybe it was because he was comparing it to the Dementors, but the Grim hadn't seemed so scary anymore. He had even suggested that they chase it, but Ron, who had held a firm grip on his cloak, had stopped him.

Now, Ron was convinced that Sirius Black was going to kill them both.

His head throbbed and he felt his eyes fill with tears as he thought about Sirius Black. He couldn't forget the conversation he had overheard in Hogsmeade. Sirius Black had betrayed his mother and father to Lord Voldemort. It was because of Sirius Black that Harry had no parents, that he had no family.

He shook his head furiously and decided not to think about Black anymore….at least not for the moment. He had to find Rena and apologize to her.

Harry wasn't surprised to find Rena in the library surrounded by books and heaps of parchments. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and for the first time Harry noticed how small she looked. Maybe it was because of her of her size, or because her robes seemed to be too big for her, but Rena looked younger than Ginny.

"Excuse me?" he said slowly. She looked up and furrowed her eyebrows, but she didn't say anything. Harry suddenly felt very uncomfortable again and he was glad that the library was almost empty so that nobody saw him.

"I just wanted to apologize for…not meting you on Christmas" he said, and then suddenly blabbered out the whole story. " I got a Firebolt for Christmas, it is the best broom there is you know, and then Hermione thought that Sirius Black might have sent it, so the broom was possible jinxed…anyways…she went and got Professor McGonagall and she also thought he broom might be jinxed and so they took it away. I was so upset, that I forgot about meeting you….and then I went to visit Hagrid and then we saw the Grim and….." he stopped because he needed breath.

"The Grim?" she asked. Harry wondered if he was mistaken, but for a moment she had looked scared.

"You know what it is?" he said, a little surprised.

"Ive….read about it. It's a death omen…right…looks like a huge black dog"

Harry nodded. Rena looked thoughtful for a moment, but then she shook her head and said.

"Why is Sirius Black out to get you?"

And Harry explained, leaving out certain details, about how Black had escaped from the wizard prison to finish the job he had started 12-years-ago, and that Black believed that Harry was the only one who stood in the way for Lord Voldemorts return.

"I see you have a lot on your mind" she said when Harry was finished "it is understandable that you forgot. Don't think about it" she gave a weak smile and then returned to her work.

"Um…Rena?" Harry asked again.

"Yes"

"I was wondering if you might….you know you really helped me out that day…with Potions and I was wondering if you might…sorta…give me some lessons…or something" the last few words he mumbled.

Rena looked at him with a mixture of surprise and maybe even happiness. But then her face darkened and she looked down in her books again, fingering with her quill.

"I..I am sorry Harry" she muttered "But I don't think I have the time….I have a lot of homework….the study group and….advanced Potions."

Harry felt his face fell, but he didn't say anything, instead he just nodded understandingly.

"Okay. Well, bye then". He walked away and Rena listened to his disappearing steps feeling more alone and deserted then she had done in many days.

The letters were swimming in front of her eyes and she felt dizzy. She had been reading the same passage almost three times but she couldn't remember anything. With a frustrated sigh she closed the book and rested her head in her palms.

Rena thought about that Christmas morning when she had changed. She could remember the feelings and the smells clearly; she could even remember that she had seen two people. That must have been Harry and his friend.

The change that day had been different from when she changed at full moon. At full moon she had to change, but that day….she had wanted to. When she had seen those dark cloaked figures coming towards her, she had wished she were stronger so she could fight them. She had wanted it only for a few seconds, but had been enough to rouse the wolf inside her.

When she had changed back had that been triggered by her fear of staying in the wolf shape, or had she willed that as well?

The last few students left the library when the big silent clock on the wall announced closing time. Rena automatically placed her books and quills in her bag and she walked the route back to her dorm, head bent focusing on her shoes. She was so deep in thoughts that she hadn't noticed somebody call her name and suddenly a hand grabbed her arm and yanked her out of her daydream.

"Rena?" a voice asked softly and concerned. She looked up slowly and stared into the dark eyes of her uncle. "Something wrong?" he asked. Rena bit her lower lip and shook her head. His grip around her arm loosened and he looked up and down the corridor. He couldn't see anybody.

"Come with me" he ordered and wordlessly she followed her uncle down the hall and then down the steps until they reached his office. He tapped the door with his wand and it swung open. Very gently he placed her in the deep sofa and he took a seat opposite of her.

The Potion Master sat for only a second before he rose and started to pace his office, looking uncomfortable and nervous. Rena loosened her hair and let it fall down over her face so she could hide in it. Her hands were trembling and she quickly sat on them so that he wouldn't notice.

"You want something to drink?" he asked suddenly and she shook his head. Snape stood for a moment a little helpless, not sure how to seize the situation. He walked over to the kettle, brought out his wand to tap it, but changed his mind. He sat down in the chair across her again and sighed.

"Are you feeling all right?"

Rena didn't say anything. She didn't know what to tell him. Snape waited anxiously for her answer, but when she made no movements, he swallowed deeply and said.

"How much do you remember from your childhood?"

He had never asked about her childhood before, he bad scarcely even mentioned it except for grumbling about his brother. She question surprised her and caught her off guard and she hesitated.

"I remember…the hospital, the muggle hospital," she said gradually. Her earliest recollections had been waking up from something that seemed like a very long sleep. There had been people around her, talking to her, but she hadn't understood what they had been saying. All she could feel was a longing for the medicine her father had made her addictive to and how unbelievable weak she was.

"I…. couldn't…talk" she said slowly and looked at her uncle. He folded his hands carefully in front of his face and studied her. He had always been afraid of telling her the truth, afraid of how she would react.

"You didn't know how to" he said softly. "My brother raised you alone…and I believe he was immensely scared of you. He kept you drugged down most of the time. You never experienced much human contact so you never learned how to speak. He also fed you mostly dog food….which I believe is what has hindered your growth…you were small even as a child"

She stared at him wide-eyed. Was this the childhood she had tried to suppress? Had her own father hated and feared her so much? Why?

"What about my mother?" she asked croakily. She thought about the old picture she kept hidden. That woman was her mother, but to Rena she was only a stranger.

"I know nothing about her…except that you are named after her"

"Maud Applegate" she said slowly "I don't remember her,"

"Your mother was a muggle…..and I don't know what happened to her. I have several times tried to track her down, but to no success" he paused and took a deep cleansing breath.

" I think my brother could no longer handle you and that is why he killed him self."

Snape stopped talking, wanting to see her response. Once again she had hidden her face in her hair and she sat immobile, not saying anything. He waited a couple of minutes and then moved to sit next to her. The only thing that indicated that she was still alive was the slow rise and fall of her chest.

Very carefully he wiped the hair away, unmasking her face. She was staring straight ahead, her large hazel eyes blank with tears and she was trembling. Snape swallowed deeply and took a deep cleansing breath hoping to calm himself. He had always been afraid and uncertain about how to deal with her emotionally.

He had often wondered why he had allowed Dumbledore talk him into caring for this child. True she was his brother's daughter, but he had not spoken to his brothers in years and he didn't even know he had a niece until that day Dumbledore showed up on his porch.

He remembered the first days he had been alone with her. Every time he had tried to go near her, she would start crying and she had flinched against his touch. He had resisted the urge to give her a calming potion or anything just to stop her from weeping, and let her cry herself to sleep. Sometimes she had run away and hid her self in a corner and he would spend hours coaxing her out, treating her like some wounded and scared animal.

One day, thinking he could take no more of it, he had wanted to send her away to the orphanage. He couldn't deal with her cries or screams and he was afraid that he was hurting her. She was a five-year-old child who hardly spoke anything, had almost never experienced human contact and had spent most of her life drugged down on morphine because every full moon she turned into a monster. He didn't know what they would do to her at the orphanage…but certainly they were more qualified to take care of her then him.

When he had written the letter and was about to send it away, Rena had suddenly appeared in the doorway. She was clad in a large sleeping gown, she had been sucking on her thumb and in her right hand she had a thigh grip on a blanket, her knuckles whitening.

He remembered how frightened he had been, staring at this small child with the pale skin, large eyes and long dark scruffy-looking hair. She had looked at him, just as she looked now. Straight ahead without really seeing him, eyes shinning with tears.

That day she had suddenly run across the room and wrapped her small feeble hands around his legs. He had frozen completely with fear, the owl hooting impatiently and pecking at his hand. Snape had placed a hand on the child's head and felt the small pressure of her hug against his body. It was the hug of a child, full of innocent devotion and a desperate need to be loved.

"Rena" Serverus spoke softly, shaking the memories away from his head.

A single tear ran down her cheek and her lower lip was trembling.

"I am going to change…." She said in a low hoarse whisper. The Potion master stopped his movements and swallowed heavily again. She turned her head in his direction and wiped the tears away with the back of her hand.

"Ive have read about it…you know. They call it the Purge…when the wolf blood takes control of the body and the change is permanent. It is happening to me, isn't it?"

Snape cast his eyes to the floor and clenched his fists.

"That isn't certain" he began trying to sound confident and calming "the reason you are sick may be…."

"Ive tried to find a cure…or something…but there isn't anything anybody can do. It just happens sometimes when the wolf is too strong…if the blood is too strong. Why is my blood so strong…. how old was I when I was bitten?" her voice was low and calm and it seemed as if she was speaking to her self.

"Nobody knows" he croaked, unable to tell her the truth. What difference would it make?

"Uncle?" she asked suddenly, and Snape felt his heart jolt.

"Why did you take me inn? Didn't I scare you to?"

Very slowly he put an arm around her shoulder. They both stiffened for a moment, before she relaxed and she let her self lean against his chest.

"I've seen scarier things" he said and he felt her body hiccup as she giggled "beside you are family…. we take care of each other" her silent laughter died down.

"If I change…what will happen to me?" Rena asked. She pressed her ear against his chest and even with all the dark and heavy material she could feel his staggered breath run through his body. It was calming and it gave her the same feeling as walking outside in the pure winter weather.

"I don't know….they will let you lose….I guess" he said, trying to hide the sadness in his voice and trying not let the pictures invade his thoughts. He could still see that little girl in his doorway only this time she turned into the werewolf monster.

"I don't want that" she said, her voice filled with confidence and suddenly she pulled out of his grasp and stared him straight in the eyes "If I change, promise me…pr…promise me you'll…k..kill me!" she stuttered the last words and then she slung her self against his chest again, hiding her face.

Snape blinked a few times trying to rid his eyes with tears.

"I cant…do that" he said quietly.

"I don't want to live as a werewolf….I don't want to turn into a monster and stalk the forest. Promise me you will kill me….put me out of my misery" she was clutching his cloak her voice growing more and more desperate and pleading.

"If I change….I am already dead. Don't let me suffer anymore. Please….kill me."

"I…I promise" he said weekly and cursed all the gods he could think about.

Thank you for reading and please review.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: see part one.

_**Chapter eight.**_

Rena was pushing the food on her plate around with her fork, occasionally giving it a vicious poke. The other Ravenclaw students chattered happily around her and a group of fourth-years were laughing loudly.

"Seat taken?"

Rena looked up and stared at Luna Lovegood. She was one of the few people in her class Rena could relate to. They had formed some kind of friendship that went no further than that they both sat next to each other in class and that they sometimes worked together on their homework.

Luna could talk for hours about the most bizarre things and she seemed to believe in almost everything. She wore strange, mismatching, clothes in odd colors and kept her wand behind her ear for safekeeping. The other people in the class, basically the whole Ravenclaw-house, had started to call her Loony Lovegood.

"You are right you know….you really shouldn't eat that stuff." Luna said, adding mashed potatoes and carrots to her plate. "You never know where they come from or what's in them!"

"My sausages?" asked Rena and stared critically at the squashed heap or meat on her plate..

Luna nodded "They just use all sorts of meat-leftovers and jams it down into…."

"Fine, fine" Rena said pushing the plate away, her nose wrinkling in disgust. She really didn't need to add that picture to her imagination.

"What do you think about Professor Lupin? I heard he brought in a Boggart for the third-years. Wouldn't that be something! I would really like to see a Boggart" Luna chatted on, adding sauce, some more vegetable and topping everything with sugar. Rena wondered if she had done the last thing on purpose or just mistaken it for the salt.

"You can't see a Boggart. It's always in the closet and when it opens it takes the shape of the thing we fear most" Rena said "So nobody knows what it really looks like"

"Hm….well, I wouldn't want it to turn into something ghastly. What do you fear the most?" Luna said and started to dig in on her plate. Rena waited a few seconds, anxious to see her response to mashed-potatoes, vegetable, sauce and sugar. Luna didn't seem to notice, but poured more sugar on her plate. Rena hid a small giggle when she saw the other Ravenclaws watching them, obviously disgusted at Lunas eating habit.

"Fear the most…." She mused. " I don't know….I have never been much fan of spiders…but I wouldn't want to meet one of those Dementors either" she shuddered thinking about the Christmas morning when she had meet one of them by the edge of the forest.

"What do you fear the most, Luna?"

"Werewolves" She said quickly. Rena felt her cheeks burn and she looked down in the table and chocked "Were.. we…werewolf?"

Luna nodded "Big monsters, with sharp teeth, talons that could cut your throat and a bloodlust so intense it will attack anything…. You can't trust a werewolf, not even in human form. My dad told me. Werewolves can be anywhere you know….that's why I wear a silver necklace, to protect me. You should to."

Rena just stared down in the table and swallowed deeply.

After lunch, they decided to go to the library and do their History of Magic homework. Luna was happily talking about some Danish-gnomes and their power to turn anything into cheese, while Rena tried not to think about what Luna had told her.

She wouldn't be near me, talking so happily if she knew Rena thought miserably. She wondered what the students would do if they ever found out what she was. She had seen pictures of people with pitchforks and torches chasing werewolves out of their city. What would the scenario be like if a mob of angry students, armed with wands, came after her?

"I think we took a wrong stair, or something…" Luna said suddenly. The stairs at Hogwarts had a will of their own and often moved around, and some even said that they had a will of their own and liked to led students astray.

"This is close to the Slytherin dorm. Let's get out of here!" Rena said. They turned around and had only walked a few steps when pumped into somebody.

"Ops, sorry!" she exclaimed and went down on all four to collect her books.

"You stupid idiot!" Malfoy snarled, giving one of Lunas book a fierce kick, sending it halfway across the corridor. "What are you morons doing here? This is the Slytherin part of the school, no place for riffraff and mudbloods."

"We took a wrong turn, didn't mean to intrude on your territory" Rena said, trying to hide the venom in her voice. Malfoy glared at her, but seemed to be reminded of the last time he had tried to get her in trouble, for he turned his attention back to Luna. She was back up on her feet, fumbling with her books.

"I said, get out of my way!" he pushed her, and Luna stumbled backwards and hit the wall.

"Stop it" Rena yelled, rushing over to Luna and helping her back up on her feet. "What is your problem anyway?"

"My problem is idiots like you that contaminate the school" he answered, looking down at them with a vicious and narrow glare. A few other Slytherins had gathered, all looking amused at the situation that was unfolding in the hallway. The prospect of looking good in front of an audience only agitated Malfoy.

"Look who's talking" Rena mumbled, tugging Luna back up. She was rubbing the back of her head and her eyes shone in pain. "Lets go Luna" she said softly.

"I want none or your lip" Malfoy growled. He crossed his arms across his chest and placed him self in the middle of the corridor, blocking the way. "Say you're sorry".

"First you wanted us to go, and now you're blocking the way. Make up your mind!" Luna said and tried to push past him. He gave her other forceful nudge in the shoulder and she stumbled backwards again, but maintained her balance.

"You lowlife need to learn your lesson, you need to learn who is above you!" Malfoy said sharply. A few of the Slytherins agreed heartily and started to chant his name.

Malfoy grabbed Rena by the shoulders and forced her down in a kneeling position in front of him. She tried to get up, but more Slytherins arrived and pinned her down. Luna didn't know what to do and she stared wide-eyed at the students, too afraid to interfere.

"Now, say you're sorry and…lick my boots!" Malfoy said triumphantly and the Slytherins cheered again.

Rena kept her eyes at the ground, feeling the pressure of the students trying to force her head downwards. She tightened her fists in anger and tried to calm her self. Her pulse was quickening and she could hear her heart pound loudly.

Once. Twice.

She tried to fight the urge and the need for power; she tried to push away the voices urging her to submit to the calling inside her. She had the strength to pull free and fight them she only had to….allow the change to happen.

She raised her face, meeting Malfoys glare and his eyes shone like a vulture looking down at his expecting pray.

"Let, me go." she said in a strained voice.

There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh and Rena felt her cheek sting and her eyes water. A few of the students swallowed anxiously and backed away. Malfoys glare of power and triumph only brightened and he raised a perfect eyebrow.

"Come on then!" he said.

Rena struggled against the people holding her down, but their grip on her shoulders tightened and a claw-like hand grabbed her neck. She winced in pain and felt the hand clench her neck tighter.

Her anger was growing, not as much because of the pain, because of the humiliation. The students around her were sniggering and she could hear Malfoy crack some joke about mudbloods and that this was where he had always wanted them.

Rena could feel the power starting to pulsate through her body and she took a deep breath, trying to calm down and to keep the beast under control. She suddenly knew that she could change if she wanted to. She could lash out and rip them all to pieces and she would enjoy it.

Malfoy raised his hand to hit her again, but suddenly hesitated. She was looking straight at him, her eyes glowing in an unnatural yellow color. And she was smiling. A brutal wolfish smile and as he watched her he could swear her teeth were lengthening and that her ears were growing.

There was just something about her…about the creature that scared him and he lowered his hand. The students trying to force her down had suddenly become aware that they were holding down a loaded spring of muscles and power ready to jump up at them.

The atmosphere grew tense from a powerful and angry source, and from somewhere there was a rumble, like tombstones falling down. Their instincts told them to flee and they scrambled away, pushing to come first.

Luna had pressed her body against the wall, not sure what was going on, but she could also feel the terror in the air. Rena was still sitting on the floor, hiding her face, body trembling slightly. Then, slowly, she rose.

"Um….are you okay" Luna asked slowly.

"Yes" Rena said in a lowered voice.

"What did you do? Why did they run away?"

Rena didn't answer, she was staring down at her hands, watching the claws grow back into her hands and the fur disappears. She was still shaky from the rush of power, but suddenly she felt very weak. It had taken all her willpower to keep the wolf at bay, but somehow she knew that if she wanted to, she could change. Whenever she wanted. She just wondered if she would manage to change back.

"Stupid Ron!" Hermione said angrily and slammed the door behind her. "Stupid Harry! Why can't they listen to reason for once!"

On Christmas morning she had met a very excited Harry and Ron, almost looking twice as happy as Harry, babbling about a Firebolt. Of course they hadn't given much thought that the most likely giver was Sirius Black and that the broom was possible jinxed. It had been the first thought that had entered her mind.

In the last couple of days neither Ron nor Harry had spoken to her and they have tried to avoid her at every opportunity. She had never known how much she depended on their friendship until she was alone. For the first time she realized that she hardly knew anybody else in this school except Ron and Harry.

"Stupid" she yelled again and rammed her palms against the door. It hurt. Pain vibrated through her arm and her eyes shone with tears.

Hermione walked over to one of the sinks and turned it on. She let the basin fill with cold water and then forcefully washed her face, hoping to get rid of some frustration.

Why couldn't they realize that she was only thinking about their, Harry's, safety? Sirius Black was a dangerous man. If he had been capable of escaping from Azkaban then buying a broom and putting a dangerous charm on it was probably only child's play to him.

Hermione continued to scrub her face, her skin turning red. She then checked her reflection in the mirror and thought.

Strange…Moaning Myrtle should have started to ….well…moan about now…" a movement in the mirror caught her attention and she spun around.

"Sorry" the girl said, "I didn't mean to disturb you."

It was Rena, another source for Hermiones frustration. She didn't know why the girl bothered her so. Maybe it was because Ron wouldn't stop talking about her and why she was being mysterious and that there was something going on between her and Professor Snape.

Since when did I start value Rons opinion? Hermione thought and suddenly felt her face turning crimson.

"Its okay I…."

Hermione stopped and suddenly noticed Renas red and puffy eyes. Had she been crying? Her left eye and cheek was swollen and red and she knew that tomorrow it would be black and yellow.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked concerned and took a step in her direction. "Who hit you?"

"I…I walked into a door" Rena whispered and pressed a sleeve against her mouth; Hermione could see that she was biting down into the fabric.

"Come-" Hermione said softly, took her by the shoulder and led her towards the most inner corner. Rena almost collapsed like a rag doll and she propped her self up against the wall to stop her self from falling down. Hermione crouched down opposite of her and gave a weak smile.

"R….Really" Rena said " I am okay"

"You sure don't look like it" Hermione replied.

"Well…I am a little tired, not getting much sleep" she swallowed a ragged breath. How would Hermione react if she told her that she dreamed about killing people? That her nightmares were filled by intense bloodlust so strong she woke up with bite marks on her own arms. That just a few minutes ago she had been so angry that she had almost changed and attack a group of students.

"School stress and all that" Rena said, not looking at Hermione.

"It isn't healthy you-know. You should really talk to a teacher or something" Hermione said softly "maybe your head of house. If you can't sleep, I am sure madam Pomfrey will brew you a sleeping potion or something."

Hermione sighed deeply, not knowing what she could do to help Rena. She was starting to get really worried, and she suddenly remembered that day when they had seen her having a seizure. Was there a connection between that incident and the way Rena looked now? Maybe Rena really was being poisoned?

"Rena" Hermione said softly "What happened that day….when you collapsed on the grounds outside the Greenhouses?"

Rena looked up at her, briefly, then returned her glance to the ground. She was biting her lower lip and flexing her fingers.

"I…." She paused and her eyes flickered nervously around in the room, and then she seemed to reach a decision. "Can you keep a secret?" she asked hopefully. Hermione nodded.

"I…I mean a really big secret, you must promise to not tell anybody!" Rena's voice was growing stronger and more hopeful.

"Sure" Hermione said confidently.

"I…." Rena started but suddenly the school bell ran. It was as if she had ordered a wake-up call. She snapped out of whatever line of thoughts she had been in and leaped to her feet and said "I'll be late for Charms" She exclaimed and before Hermione could say anything else, she dashed out of the door.

Thank you for reading and please review.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: see part one.

_**Chapter nine.**_

With a small tap of his wand Lupin unlocked the door and walked into Renas room. There had to be something that could help him establish a link to Renas past. Seeing her drawing nearer to the Purge, he wanted to find out who she was and where she came from. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was because Rena refused to talk to him or because Snape was obviously hiding something.

Rena was the only student in the entire school who had a single room, but knowing that she was a werewolf, Lupin didn't find this very strange. What he found strange, almost creepy, was that the room looked more or less unlived in.

It was a small room with a narrow stained-glass window on the left-side wall. There was a small desk, with three drawers, under the window and a bed on the opposite side of the room. At the foot-end of the bed there was a huge black trunk with heavy brass locks. On the floor was a green rugged carpet with a large imprint in the middle.

There was no posters or picture on the walls, and the only item on the desk was a glass of water and a book.

"_Little Woman_"

He knew this book, the title of it was locked in his mind, but he couldn't remember from where. He was positive he'd never read it.

He bent down on the floor and let his finger trace the carpet. He found a couple of black strings of hair and a large imprint in the middle.

Lupin opened the bottom drawer and found some un-used parchment and a couple of quills. Everything neatly organized. In the middle drawer he found her schoolbooks. A large red book bound in skin caught his interest and he opened it on a random page.

He saw a picture drawn in magical-pastel colors making the imagines glimmer and move uneasily, like colored clouds. He touched the page and the colors rippled like the water's surface. Touching the brown color, small letters in barley noticeable handwriting appeared. It read "wood"

Fascinated, Lupin touched the pale green color and the letters reading "carpet" formed. A crystalblue one read, "water" while a murky red one was labeled "blood." He tried to find a reason Rena would connect colors to objects, but came up empty.

Lupin opened the book on other random pages. It was filled with vivid forms and shapes he wasn't able to identify, but they seemed to leap out at him and settle in his mind in a way he couldn't understand. Somehow, the imagines appeared to be familiar to him and they were oddly disturbing.

On the last page a huge black-cloaked figure was drawn. Its face was hidden in the folders of the cloak and the only thing visible was a rotting claw-like hand. He could see that the picture had been drawn in all haste and in fear; the lines around were sharp and uneven.

"A Dementor" Lupin mused, and then closed the book. Just looking at the picture made him feel uneasy.

The top drawer held nothing interesting, except what looked like old school reports. He spotted the essay he had handed out yesterday. Her answer had been formidable as ever and a quick scan through the other reports showed other essays and tests-answers, all marked with the top grade.

Lupin walked over to Renas trunk. It gleamed in its smooth black polish and it reminded him of whom Renas uncle was. He wondered what Snape would do if he ever found out he had been snooping around in his niece's room. He shuddered at the thought and imagined that not even Dumbledore would go lightly on him.

The trunk opened with a small squeak in protest and he stared down in it. On one side of the trunk was all her school-robes neatly folded. He saw other clothes, pants, sweater and socks, most of them in dark colors. Curiously, he took a pair of socks and placed it among the school robes. He closed the trunk and when he opened it again, the socks were back among the other socks again.

He sorted through the garments, chuckling slightly at the thought of Snape going shopping for clothes for a young girl. At the bottom of the trunk were several books, all very old and none of the pictures on the covers were moving. He picked up one of them and read the title. "Beowulf"

Taking out all the books he read titles like "David Copperfield" "Dantes Divine Comedy" "Lord of the Flies" and "White Fang"

Lupin sighed miserably. The only thing he had discovered about Rena was that she was a smart, organized student who liked to read classical muggle books and have an artistic talent. Nothing he didn't know before.

He started throwing the books back into the trunk at random, knowing they would be magically organized once he closed the lid. As he picked up "Divine Comedy" a small piece of paper fluttered out and landed on the floor.

Frowning slightly, he picked it up and unfolded it and read.

"Maud Applegate"

He could feel his hear-beat quicken and with quivering hands he turned the picture around and stared at the woman. Long blond locks and large blue eyes smiled at him in a pale face. The woman was wearing a red dress and her arms were wrapped around the arm of a man whose face had been thorn away.

Jumping back on his feet, still clutching the picture, Lupin rushed down to his own office, not thinking about the books and clothes still scattered out on the floor.

When he reached his own office, he started to rummage around in his own trunk until he found a black photo-album. He quickly flipped past the painful pictures of his school days until he got the last page. With trembling hands he fiddled with the yellow envelope until he managed to open it and spill its content out on his desk.

He found the picture and held it up to the one he had taken from Renas room. It was the same picture, no doubt, only that his hand been better handled and his own face had not been thorn away.

Lupin collapsed down in the office-chair, still feeling his heart race against his chest and his pulse drumming through his head.

The memories of Maud Applegate flooded back into his mind and he tried to shake them away. It had only been a small romance, in the time after Lily, James and Peter had been killed and Sirius had been thrown in prison.

He had been desperately lonely and miserable and the bright-eyed woman he had meet at a muggle-marked had lit a spark in him. He had fallen head-over heels in love with her, casting away all of his normal worries and sorrows. For one week he had lived in a blissfully pretend world where his entire past had never happened. Maud Applegate had not asked any questions and had accepted him for who he was. He had loved her laughter; her carefree attitude and that wonderful way she made him feel.

But he had left her quickly, knowing that there was no future with her. Come the next full moon and he would become a savage monster again.

Was Maud Applegate really Renas, -Maud Renas-, he corrected him self, mother? What was her connection with Snape and what had happened to her? Who had given Rena her name?

Rena sighed and stared at her property spilled out over the floor, again. The poltergeist had already emptied her belongings over the entire common room twice before.

She started to gather her things, thinking about the conversation with her uncle a couple of days ago. Had it been fair to ask him to kill her? But she didn't want to live like a werewolf and he was the only one she trusted, the only she would want placing a wand at her neck and utter the killing-words…. or slice her throat with a silver dagger.

Automatically she searched for the picture of her mother. It wasn't in the book where she had placed it.

"_Accio Maud Applegate-picture_" she said waving her wand.

Rena excepted it to come soaring from under her bed or her desk and was shocked to see it slipping in from the crack under the door. The picture landed in her hand and she clutched it tightly.

It wasn't her picture.

It was the same imagine, but this had been better handled and it wasn't thorn at the edge and for the first time she could look at the man's face. Rena had always believed that the man on the picture had to be her father, Dameon Epans.

She stared at him and she could see that there was some resemblance. She shared the man's eyes, the shape of his face, his nose and maybe even his mouth. He wasn't smiling, but looking seriously at the cameraman. There was something romantic and happy about the young couple, both looking like they had their entire future ahead of them.

Gently she touched the man's face and immediately felt a deep resentment for him.

He had been the one who neglected her as child, who had drugged her down and locked her up with only a bowl of water for company. He had been the one who had taken his own life and left her all alone.

Rena shivered in hatred and she clutched the picture forcefully, curling it into a ball. Her suppressed memories started to return, filling her mind like a disaccorded symphony.

There had been a small room under the floorboards in the kitchen where he used to lock her inn when it was fullmoon. One night, he had placed her there, but when the morning came he hadn't let her out again.

Through the cracks she had seen the sunlight and heard him walked back-and forth, mumbling and muttering. There had been the sound of furniture scraping across the floor, and he had climbed up a chair and placed his head in a loop. Then he had kicked the chair away and with a strangled cry, he had cut the air supply to his brain and slowly suffocated.

Rena could still remember the dusty filtered light broken by the movements of the body swinging back and forth and the low creaking of the rope. Eventually the movements had stopped and the noise died out. But she had still waited for him to let her out. She'd call for him and banged her hands against the wall. The light had disappeared and night had come, and she knew she was alone.

She couldn't remember how long it took before somebody had arrived but at the end the stench had been hideous and she'd been so hungry, she had clawed at roof above her. Even now she was terrified of small rooms.

She was quivering and feeling violently nauseas. She tossed the picture away as if had burned her and she wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in her knees.

What a horrible insignificant life she lived. She hadn't been welcomed, she hadn't been wanted and she had driven her father to suicide. Her mother had probably abounded her in fear once her child turned into a werewolf.

There was a subtle knock on her door, but Rena ignored it.

There was so much curled up anger in her that it felt as if she would explode, and the wolfish power seemed to pound through her. She wiped her tears away and bit down in robe's sleeve, groaning in pain. The urge to change grew, all she wanted was to lash out her revenge on the people who had hurt her. But they were all dead and there was nobody left to sooth her anger, or her tears. She huddled together and rocked her self back and forth, seeking comfort in her own embrace.

The knocking was becoming more insistence, and Rena covered her ears to block it out.

She just wished everything would be over, not knowing that the future would not let her slip away so easily.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: see part one.

_**Chapter ten.**_

"Did you bring it?"

The boy slung a copy of _Defense Against the Dark Arts_ down on the table in front of Malfoy. He grabbed the book and quickly skimmed through it until he found what he was looking for. He turned silent, his browns furrowed and his mouth became a thin line.

Cabbe and Goyle waited hesitantly. Ever since they had met the two Ravenclaw girls in the corridor, Malfoy had been edgy and more short-tempered than usual. He had been the first one to stumble backwards and then flee in fear, even though nobody was sure what had caused it. Why had the girl suddenly filled them with dread? Ten strong Slythrin boys had run away from a puny Ravenclaw girl! It was an unspoken agreement that they just pretended that it hadn't happened.

But Malfoy knew that he has seen something and now he was certain about what she was.

"I knew it!" He said triumphal, startling both Crabbe and Goyle. A couple of other Slytherin drew nearer and settled down in the empty chairs around Malfoy.

"She is a bloody vampire!" He flung the book on the table so everybody could see the picture. A pale and ghastly face, blood veins looking almost black, fangs and yellow, cat-like, eyes. The boys murmured excitedly. Malfoy elegantly moved some hair away from his face and continued.

"You all saw it, didn't you? She had fangs and her eyes were yellow." it was a statement, not a question and everybody nodded.

"It was lucky that I recognized what she was and managed to escape," said Malfoy.

"But...um….I though vampires burned in sunshine" somebody protested weakly "and Ive seen her outside the greenhouse bunch of times"

Malfoy glared and the boy evilly, but considered the dilemma briefly before he shrugged.

"Dumbledore has probably given her some sort of magical equipment to protect her."

"Why would Dumbledore allow a vampire to study here?"

"Feh" Malfoy snarled "look at all the other riff-raff he's allowed here; mudbloods, stupid ghosts, that idiot Hagrid and Professor Lupin. He doesn't seem to care that he is putting all our lives in danger; he is just a soft old fool. Wait until father hears about this!"

"We should do something! We are Slytherins, we can't let a single vampire beat us!"

"Agreed. We can't allow a demon in our school. Well spotted Malfoy!" a sixth-year said and Malfoy basked in the glory the older students were giving him.

"Beat it? How?"

"Stake it you mean?" Goyle asked.

"Um….wont we get in trouble for killing a student…." It was the same voice again, and this time Malfoy tracked down the source of annoyance. It was a fat, pasty-faced fifth-year with crew-cut hair.

"What's your name?" Malfoy said nastily. The boy swallowed "Kevin McCore"

"Well, Kevin…a vampire is already dead you idiot!" Malfoy snarled and Grabbe and Goyle snickered. "Killing it….again…won't make any difference"

Malfoy retrieved the book and flipped through it. The boys turned silent, waiting for him to say something. "We should arm our selves….make some stakes….get some garlic….does anybody have a cross?"

"I have this silver rosebeads…." Somebody said and tossed it towards Malfoy.

"We should at least make sure…."

Malfoy opened his mouth to kill the protest, but then decided against it.

"It's easy to prove that somebody is a vampire. We just throw this cross at her and see her reaction."

"We need battle plan," somebody said eagerly and the boys drew closer around in a circle. "We could lure her down to the dungeons."

"Somebody has to occupy Professor Snape then"

"Yes…we have to attack as soon as possible"

"Lets go vampire hunting!" a voice said excitedly and the others cheered. Kevin McCore moved uneasily at the edge of the circle not knowing what to do. Finally, he sat down among the other boys who were busily plotting their kill. He soon forgot all about his objections and the little voice that was chiding him.

"Ooohhhh…there you are!" Rena turned around as Luna Lovegood came bouncing down the corridor towards her. Luna had suddenly become twice as friendly and open since the episode in the corridor two days ago. She grabbed Renas arm and said excitedly.

"I can't wait to see what we learn in Defense today!"

"Probably nothing interesting" Rena replied and tried half-heartily to pull her arm free from Lunas grip.

"All of Professor Lupins classes are interesting, don't you think?"

"We-el…." Rena said a little uncertain. She wondered what Luna would say if she knew her favorite professor was also her worst fear. What would Luna do if she told her that _she _was a werewolf? She wouldn't be so friendly then Rena thought.

The students were standing outside the classroom and murmurs of disappointment rose from the crowd.

"Sick again…."

"…at least Snape isn't substituting"

"I wonder what ails him"

"Aw…its the last class today, why couldn't he just given us free?"

Lunas smile disappeared and she untangled herself from Renas arm and made her way towards the classroom. A note was pinned to the door stating that the class was cancelled.

"He's sick, but he still gives us homework!"

Rena couldn't help to smile a little at the situation. Had any of the Ravenclaw students been as observant as they were smart they would have noticed that Lupin always was ill a certain time of the month. Typical werewolf syndrome Rena thought. She sighed miserably and thought about tomorrow's full moon.

She hadn't felt ill the days around the lunar-change in last couple of months. Except for the sudden outburst of nausea, the surge of power and an intense lust to kill, the pre-lunar tension had all but vanished. She thought about the incident in the corridor and how she had almost changed right in front of the students. What would have happened if she hadn't been able to suppress it? The wolf inside her was growing stronger…. not due to the changes in the moon…but because of her own emotions. Her feelings and the wolf were somehow connected.

What if this is the night…what if I don't change back!

"The homework looks interesting" Luna reported, "We have to write about what monster we fear the most and how to defeat it. Do you think this mean we might see a Boggart?"

Rena didnt answer.

Luna grabbed her arm again and this time led her down towards the library.

"So….what do you know about werewolves?"

The library was crowded with students doing their homework or preparing for the upcoming exams. Except for the other Ravenclaws, Rena only recognized Harry and his friends. Ginny waved at them, but Luna ignored her and made the way towards the last empty table in a secluded corner.

"Hm…I need to ask madam Pinch about a good book on werewolves….I hate asking her for help, she always gives you this eye, you know" Luna chatted "like you are doing something criminal"

"Try _Hairy Snout, Human Heart_" Rena answered automatically. Luna gave her a startled look and Rena hid her blush. "Um…Ive heard that it is a good book…." She stuttered.

The next hours Luna spent busily pouring over books about werewolves and Rena sitting still and idly tapping her quill against her paper. She wondered if Luna would figure out what Lupin was…or if she would figure out that she was sitting across a werewolf.

For once she didn't feel any inkling to do her homework. If she didn't turn something inn, she was sure Professor Lupin wouldn't say anything.

"The more I read about them….the more I fear them. Listen to this "_Almost uniquely among fantastic creatures, the werewolf actively seeks humans in preference to any other kind of prey"_ Luna shuddered. "Why would they do that?"

"Um…to expand their flock?" Rena suggested.

Luna was about to say something, but then her eyes widened and she hid her face amongst the books.

Rena turned around and saw a bunch of Slytherin students gathered by the entrance, all of them looking in their direction. She recognized Malfoy and the others from his usual gang.

"Do you think they are after revenge….?" Luna asked in a barley auditable voice.

"I…." Rena swallowed and turned back.

"What did you do to them?"

"A kind of…hypnosis spell"

"Like the Confundus Charm?….Isn't that kinda….."

She stopped talking and Rena could hear footsteps approaching and then the quiet interrupting cough.

"Ms. Epans?"

Rena turned around and saw that one of the Slytherin boys had approached them. He was tall with brown hair and a stern angry-looking face. He had to be at least three-years older than she.

"Yes?"

"Professor Snape wishes to see you in the dungeons. Now" his voice was deep and commanding.

She blinked a couple of times before the words settled in her brain. Luna cast her a quick questiongly glance and mouthed something Rena didn't understand.

"Yes. Of course. "She gathered her things and rose. "See you at dinner" she said to Luna.

The other Slytherin boys had disappeared and she walked quickly through the library, the Slytherin student following closely in her heels.

What does he want? Why did he send…. Rena thought as she walked down the stairs towards the dungeon. The torches weren't lit and it was pitch-black, she had to feel her way down the stairs, so not to stumble.

"Why is it so dark?" she asked the Slytherin student. He was gone and the only sound she heard was from her own echoing steps. For a moment she thought that this was ridiculous and that the Slytherin students were obviously trying to lure her down into some sort of trap. She hesitated and was about to turn around, but then figured that maybe her uncle wanted to give her the potion for the upcoming full moon.

Rena knocked on his office-door, but when he didn't answer she made her way to the Potion's classroom.

The light was lit here and for a moment the transfer from darkness to sudden light, blinded her. The classroom was empty. All the desks had been pushed to one side of the room and the cauldrons were gone.

"Um…." She asked uncertainly, hating the sound of her voice in the empty space.

Something caught the reflection from the light on the floor. She walked over and bent down and saw a necklace with a crucifix on it. Not thinking about it, she tried to pick it up, but immediately dropped it when she felt her flesh start to sting. It clinkered to the floor and first now she realized that the necklace was made of silver.

"Ouch….." she shook her hand, trying to shake the pain away.

"See….all the evidence we need!"

Suddenly somebody grabbed her arms and twisted them around and held them in a vice-like grip. She tried to pull her self free and a new voice said.

"Let's do the Immbobulus charm on her"

"It won't work on a vampire. They are very resistant to magic"

Hooded figures appeared and formed a half-circle in front of her. It was seven of them, all dressed in black and their face well hidden.

"Let me go!" Rena said in a strained voice and tried once again to escape.

"Shut up" one of the figures said sternly "vampire"

He pressed the metal against her eye. She could feel her skin burn and she howled in pain, tears filling her eyes. Her body jerked in spasm, trying to avoid the ache, but it only grew more intense and the grip around her arms tightened.

"Im not a…." she tried, but didn't know how to explain why her skin was burning when the crucifix touched her skin. She figured that saying that she was a werewolf wouldn't help the situation. "Please…let me go"

"Come on. …quickly…before it….um…vamps on us!"

"Yes….we can't let her summon her strength"

The pain in her face was so intense that it felt as if she was dying. She focused all her willpower on remaining in control and not to give into the roaring and angry wolf inside her that wanted to lash out on its attacker.

The sudden and unexpected new pain that entered her body came as a shock to her. She felt her body go ridged and her vision flickering, then fading.

When he thrust the stake into her body, he hadn't anticipated the soft resistance of flesh. According to the book, the vampire immediately turned to dust. Instead a red stain slowly formed on under her clothes and he could feel sticky warm blood on his hands. He looked up in a pain-streaked face and large dark eyes blinking away tears in surprise and confusion. Everybody stood transfixed and the only people moving were the boys holding her arms. They suddenly let her go, and they saw her body swaying a little.

She reached out an arm, as if begging for help and she opened her mouth to speak but instead blood gushed out. She collapsed, first in the knees and then the rest of her body followed suit, toppling together like a house of cards.

The boys turned around and fled, stumbling backwards to the dormitory. They discarded their robes and cast them in the flames. Everybody was trembling and one was on the verge of tears.

"Nobody…. mentions this. Ever!" was the only words uttered by a fair-haired boy. He spoke in a low a threatening manner. And they nodded in agreement. This was something they defiantly were going to pretend never happen.

Thank you for reading and please review.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: see part one.

A/N: Not my best chapter, but I am having a kind of writers block.

_**Chapter eleven. **_

After a few minutes the pain and confusion left her and she managed to rise. She stood dazed and the first thing she realized was that her right eye wasn't working. Then she stared down at the alien objected in her body. The loss of blood and the shock of what had happened made her a little intoxicated and she chuckled slightly as she slowly withdrew the stake.

More blood oozed out, but it quickly slowed down and she could feel her body slowly mending its self.

"I'm a werewolf with super-strength and regenerating power," she exclaimed to the room at large and then let out another chocked laugh. "Who would have thunk that…. I would survive that…should be glad I'm a werewolf and…" Laughing brought the pain back, and she clutched her abdomen.

The next thing she registered was that there was blood everywhere, on her hands, on her clothes and gathered in a large pool on the floor. For a moment she excepted the wolf's bloodlust to take over…. but apparently the smell of her own blood kept the monster at bay.

"I need….to rest….somewhere safe" she thought…or was it what her instinct that told her?

Rena staggered out of the room and out into the still black corridor. She was half-blinded and it took her a while to find her way up the stairs and to the hallway. Her immediate concern was to run into somebody. She wasn't sure how she would explain her current state, or the fact that she hadn't died…or why she was holding a stake in her hand.

But, the castle was almost empty and Rena vaguely remembered something about dinner and how she was supposed to meet Luna there. She clambered up the stairs, grateful not to meet any ghosts or teachers. The pictures looked at her horror-struck, but nobody said anything and the blood-drops on the floor were quickly washed up by the house-elves.

Not sure why, she hid the stake behind her bed-board and then she collapsed on her bed. Drawing up her feet and using the wall to keep her balance she managed to lie down on her back. Walking had loosened the wound and blood was no flowing freely from her stomach.

What was she going to say to the others when the found her lying in a bed full of blood, a hole in her stomach and a large burn-scar on her face? Intoxication of loosing blood overtook her again and she said in a singsong voice.

"They thought I was a vampire and tried to stake me…but being a werewolf and all….nothing except silver can kill me." She took a deep breath "lucky me." Her head slumped to one side and she fell unconscious, her arm dropped from her stomach and hung over the bedside.

Luna had tried knocking on Renas door for ten full minutes before she gave up. She hadn't showed up for dinner, and although that wasn't any cause for concern, Rena had promised to be there. What actually worried Luna was the fact that Rena had disappeared down into the dungeons with the Slytherin-boys. They had probably played some foul trick on her, or locked her into the dungeon.

Making sure her wand was firmly fixed behind her ear, Luna made her way out of the common room and down to the main hallway again. Just to be sure, she checked the Great Hall and the Library before making her way down to the dungeons.

She was halfway to the Potion's classroom when somebody behind her cleared his throat. Luna turned around and saw Professor Snape looking at her, his face demanding and an angry glare in his eyes.

"What" he said in a soured voice "are you doing down her Ms….."

"Ms. Lovegood, sir" Luna supplied and tried to smile. Professor Snapes lip curled and Luna suddenly felt scared and uncomfortable at once.

"Well, Ms. Lovegood. Must I repeat my question?" he challenged.

"Um. No sir…I was looking for somebody"

This seemed to startle Snape a little for his eyes flickered anxiously around in the corridor. Then his face sterned again and he said.

"Might this be the same somebody who killed the light and re-arranged my classroom?"

"Sir?" Luna asked puzzled "Um…no. I was looking for Re-Ms. Epans, sir"

Snape paused and his eyes flickered around in the corridor again and he said in a little more strained tone-of-voice.

"And why would she be here."

"Because you told her to, sir"

"What?"

"A tall Slytherin boy told Ms. Epans that you wanted to see her immediately, sir."

"And when was this?" Snape could just about keep his voice calm.

"Just before dinner, sir. She didn't show up, and I can't find her in her room, the library or anywhere. I figured that if you…."

Luna never had the time to finish before Professor Snape dashed away.

Should have….paid more attention to her Snape thought angrily as he walked up the stairs. Its almost full moon…she is always easily agitated and…. . The way Ms. Lovegood had told it, it seemed that some Slytherin students had wanted to play her a prank. He had more than once found a sniveling and scared student locked up in a cupboard or tied up in a caldron filled with some-sort of nasty creatures.

He was aware of his niece's almost desperate fear for small and dark places and had no doubt that even spending only a couple of minutes locked up in cupboard would send her into to shock. Or even worse. Who knew what her fragile condition would drive her to do.

The Ravenclaw students looked at him surprised and slightly frightened as he crossed the common room and walked towards the girls dorm. He had only visited her room a couple of times before, but always during the night. Snape had always known that he wasn't anybody's favorite person on school and shedding Rena from the fact that they were related was just a way of trying to give her a normal life.

He knocked on her door several times, but when she didn't answer he brought out his wand and ordered "_Alohomora"_

He didn't know what he had expected to find, but not even his wildest nightmare would prepare him from the scene that greeted him as he entered her room. He couldn't move, he just stared at her sloped form, halfway on the bed. He couldn't remember seeing so much blood ever before in his life. Her bed sheets were mattered with it, her clothes were drenched in it, and a red handprint stained the wall.

Then his common sense took over and he rushed into the room. He placed two fingers on her neck and found a surprisingly strong and steady pulse. He tried to find the source of her wound and gently touched her stomach. He didn't dare to do anything with it, instead he looked at her face, half-hidden in her hair.

"What did you do?" he asked her "why did you do it?"

The next person to arrive was Professor Flitwick, head of Ravenclawhouse. He to stopped in the doorway and let out a upset "Oh my." He stepped halfway into her room, not sure what to do.

"Is…she..?" he trailed off and studied Snapes bent form. The potion master rose slowly and half-turned.

"No….not yet"

"Ill get Madam Pomfrey"

The older students, who could easily see over tiny-professor Flitwick let out startled sobs and screams. A couple of the students were openly crying and Flitwick gently pushed them away and ordered everybody back to their dorms.

The next day, hundreds of different stories about what had happened filled the conversation at the breakfast table. Some said that she was dead; some said she had tried to do some advanced magic that had backfired and was now in a coma. Some even said she had tried to take her own life.

But most people believed that she had been attacked and killed by Sirius Black. This theory was the one strongest supported since the Ravenclaw students, who had seen her room, told that blood had been splattered on the walls and that they had found a huge knife in her room.

Surprisingly, the Slytherin students also supported this theory and added that many of them had seen a mysterious shadow stalk the corridors. The fact that Rena had last been seen walking towards the dungeons with a fifth-year Slytherin wasn't a part of the stories told.

Harry and Ron were also supporting this theory, especially Ron. Hermione on the other was a little uncertain.

"I mean….we know he wants to kill Harry….so why would he go after a Ravenclaw girl"

"Maybe he made a mistake…like last time?" Ron suggested.

"But…he knows where Harry sleeps…. and besides why take the huge risk of entering the castle and then attack somebody?"

"We know he's mad…he doesn't need any reason for anything that he does" Ron said simply "and he managed to get unseen into the castle and attack me."

Harry had to agree to this but on the other hand, what Hermione said also made a lot of sense. If Black had mistaken the rooms, why not just leave unseen and make a new move later. He had to know that if he were spotted the security would only be tightened even more.

"It just seems…. wrong somehow" Hermione said and then sighed. "There isn't anything we can do about it anyway. You should focus on winning the Quidditch final."

Harry gave his toast a vicious poke with his fork. The upcoming match weighed heavily on his shoulders and he was very nervous.

"At least the Slytherin seems to behave….maybe Malfoy is just as nervous as you Harry, I don't think I've ever seen him look so pale." Said Ron.

Harry half-turned in his chair and stared at Malfoy. Indeed his cockiness and the constant air of arrogance he always surrounded him self with had somewhat vanished.

"I bet it won't last" Harry muttered.

"You mustn't blame yourself, Serverus" Professor Dumbledore said quietly and put a hand on his shoulder. Snape shook it irritatingly away and said in a low and tight voice. "I'm not."

Madam Pomfrey looked at the two men a little uncertainly. She wanted to order both of them out of the room, but the tension that radiated off Snape made him unapproachable. Instead she made her self busy, fiddling with bottles and looking for the right herbs.

She has lost so much blood….and I dont know….I mean…will my medicine work on a werewolf? she thought. She cleared her throat and said.

"I can't replace the blood in her body…. Since it's…werewolf blood. What I can do is to give her some medicine that will speed up the body's process of replacing the lost blood cells"

"Very good" Dumbledore replied and smiled warmly.

"It will however…make her immobile for several days…maybe even weeks since she needs to reserve her strength. I….do not…I mean….tomorrow is…." She paused, summoned her strength, but before she could speak Snape said slowly.

"Tomorrow is a full moon. The blood that will be replaced in her body may be mostly werewolf blood, which will immediately drive her into the last stage of the Purge."

Madam Pomfrey nodded solemnly. " I can of course wait…. but I am not sure if she is strong enough to survive the changing process….I am surprised that she has survived this long at all" she added the last few words silently.

"Then, let her die a human. That was what she tried to achieve" and without another word, Snape walked out and closed the door behind him.

Dumbeldore let out a deep and troubled sigh. He placed a hand on Renas forehead and quietly stroked some hair away from her face. Madam Pomfrey stood anxiously by the medicine, still fumbling with the bottles and herbs.

"How about her eye?" he asked.

"I do not know yet. Had she come here immediately I might have been able to save it…. but this…looks like a burn wound…we will just have to wait and see."

Dumbledore removed his hand from her forehead and muttered quietly

"Who did this to you?"

Thank you for reading and please review.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: see chapter one.

_**Chapter twelve.**_

The dark clouds slid silently over the heavens and the full moon appeared, like a ghostly galleon sailing across the sky. The treetops in the Forbidden Forest swayed slightly in the wind and the Whomping Willow creaked quietly and bent towards the ground.

Dumbledore hummed softly to himself, an ancient and tuneless melody that he long ago forgotten. He half turned and stared at the girl in the bed. The change had not yet taken place. How often had he been faced with situations where he could do nothing but wait? Wait for the opponent to make his next move, wait for somebody to live or die.

He remembered, as if it was yesterday, that night when the Minister of Magic, almost at the edge of panic had called him and said that there was a werewolf child in a muggle-hospital. Not only that, this child belong to somebody who….well, Dumbledore had better sort this out, the Minister had said.

At first Dumbledore had been uncertain about how to address the situation. There were so many muggles who knew about the child that it would take much magic to make them all forget it. Besides, even if he made them forget….they already had pictures of the child, blood samples and documentations and so much more. Removing her from all the papers and peoples memory would just leave empty space that would eventually make them wonder what was suppose to be there. Muggles could be very resourceful and curious when there was something they didn't recognize. In any case, Dumbledore had never been comfortable with putting charms on unsuspecting muggles just to solve a problem.

He had presented him self as the child's grandfather and after days of interviews and questions he had been allowed to leave with the child in his safekeeping. He had to answer that he knew nothing about his son's mistreating, and that he hadn't known that he even had a grandchild. This made Child Protection Service a little uneasy, but Dumbledors charisma and trust-worthy personality had won.

At first he had tried to talk to the girl, but she didn't seem to be interested in speaking. She would mostly stare at him wide-eyed and scared and after a while Dumbledore realized that she wasn't used to interact with people.

Giving the child to her relative had been a risky business, but when it came down to it, Dumbledore strongly believed that blood was thicker than water and that families should stick together.

Lost in reminiscences he didn't notice that he night had almost passed and that the first ray of sunshine was breaking through the clouds. He frowned, for he had not heard a single sound and for a moment he worried that she might have died silently and alone while he was busy staring out the window.

He turned around, wiped his eyes and shook his head furiously. He had seen werewolves several times, their long bony bodies with slim limbs and short grayish fur. It wasn't what Rena had changed into, and he moved closer just to be certain his eyes weren't betraying him.

The creature looked more like a normal wolf than anything he had seen before. As it lay stretched out it was maybe 4 feet from snout to tail and measured about 30 inches at the shoulder. Muscles rippled under the fur and he could see them twitch slightly. It was mostly black with stripes of gray and a clear and the stomach was almost white. It still had bandages around its torso and over its right eye. The hair around the neck seemed thicker, almost like a mane.

Then day broke and Dumbledore turned quickly around, unable to see the change from wolf to human. But he heard it, the creaking of bones and the bending of joints and he could almost feel it, the slight change in texture.

When he turned around again, Rena had returned to her normal self, still lying in the same position as when he first walked in.

Dumbledore hesitated, and then took a step in her direction. Her chest was slowly rising and falling and color was returning to her face. For the first time in many years Dumbledore had no idea what was going on.

The school was busily humming with rumors about Rena and the upcoming Quidditch final. Most students seemed to think that Rena was dead and they wondered why nobody had made any type of announcement. The second year Ravenclaw class had been bombarded with questions several times and they could just repeat the same answers as each time.

"No I don't know anything"

But after during the day the rumors and buzzing diminished and the school returned to normal. Well, at least some things of the school.

The third-year Slytherins and Gryffindors spilled hurryingly up from the dungeons stairs, everybody marveling at what they had just witnessed.

"What was…."Ron seemed to struggle to find the right words "wrong with Snape?"

"It did look like he was a little preoccupied" Harry agreed. Hermione let out a low sigh and said.

"It looked like he wasn't there at all! Nothing he said made any sense, he kept dropping his book and his wand was shaking. I think…. he looked really upset."

"What does he have to be upset about…he isnt the one who has to take his exams soon" Ron muttered earning an angry glare from Hermione.

"As much as you might hate the idea, Ron. Have you ever considered the fact that Snape does have…you know, a life besides tormenting Harry and making our lives miserable."

"Yeah, right" Ron snorted, as if what Hermione was suggesting was completely absurd.

"I can just see him as a family man" he shuddered.

"He might be married for all we know!" Hermione continued "with kids!"

"Poor children"

Harry had never thought about Snape that way…he hadn't thought about any of the professors that way. To him they seemed to always be at school and did nothing else than teach. Hermione was so angry with Rons response that she stomped away, leaving a flustered Ron and a worrying Harry.

Hermione had cooled somewhat off as she entered the Great Hall and looked for a place to sit. The students at the Ravenclaw table were silently working, nobody speaking a word. The Slytherins were looking as foul as ever but even their spirits seemed to have been dampened somewhat.

She sat next to Ginny who was fervently scribbling something on a piece of paper. Hermione took out her books, Ginny dropped her quill and she bent down to under the table to retrieve it. When she didn't return, Hermione said anxiously.

"Is something wrong?"

"What if she is really sick or something?" Ginny said in a low voice " What if she is dying? I've never been really nice to her and she has helped me tons of times with my homework and lending me her notes. She always helps everybody…..you know in our study group or everything. She is really smart, and you know what-" she paused and drew a shuddering breath. "-Nobody ever talks to her if they don't want any help or want to copy her homework. She is always alone and I feel so rotten! " she exclaimed.

"Ginny" Hermione said fervently and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It isn't your fault that-"

"Well, then whos is it? I know she isn't in our house….but why should we only care about the people in our own houses? She is in my classes, I see her almost everyday" Ginny was growing more and more frustrated and desperate.

You are right Hermione thought, trying to sooth Ginny, why should we only care about the people in our own houses, or only the people in our classes. I hardly known anybody except Harry and Ron…and I have been in the same classroom as them in three years.

"Ginny…" Hermione said again " I am sure she is going to be okay. Otherwise…they would have said something, don't you think?"

"I suppose…." She paused for a moment and said.

"Do you really think she was attacked by Sirius Black?"

"I dont know…I suppose he could have….." Hermione trailed off.

"Luna…thinks something happened to her in the dungeons" Ginny said silently.

"What do you mean?"

Ginny explained what Luna had told her, how they had stumbled across Malfoy and his gang in the corridors and how the Slytherins, later, had lured her down into the dungeons.

"She believes they wanted to take revenge, but she's to scared to say anything. Anyways…she reckons Snape already found out who did it. Did you notice how he acted today? He was absolutely furious…over every little thing."

"What!" Lupin exclaimed surprised and slumped down in the chair. Dumbledore just nodded and folded his spidery hands in front of his face.

"A werewolf turning into a real wolf…." Lupin muttered, still dazed.

"It is just the description I can give and she changed back…. she must have an enormous source of will-power. I am going to ask Serverus if he has ever seen her doing that before…. though I highly doubt it since he would have brought it to my attention"

"But…how is still possible? She is a werewolf, right?"

"Yes. There is no doubt about. But I have theory….thought there are several points in it that doesn't add up. The werewolf form….that you experience is the state when the body and mind is trapped between man and beast-form. The wolf-form has some of the human traits like the ability to walk on hind legs. But…what if the wolf-form and the human-form make sort of agreement and allows the body to turn in a complete and full, a normal wolf" Dumbledore paused and the thought about what he had just said.

"That was what I first thought when I saw her…..but it doesn't make much sense"

"I agree…" Lupin said "There is just to much difference between man and wolf that such an agreement would ever be made…and even though we can twist the laws of nature and even take forms of animals, nobody has ever heard about an animal taking the form of a human."

"That is a dilemma" Dumbledore mused and looked at Lupin over his half-moon spectacles. He scratched his beard absentmindedly and furrowed his bushy eyebrows. "Is Rena a human who turns into a wolf…or a wolf who turns into a human."

"If the latter is true…then shouldn't see be able to change whenever she wants?" Lupin asked.

"This…puts Ms. Epans in a rather difficult situation….and also her uncle" Dumbledor said. "If her true nature is reviled…then she might be classified as a magical-creature and lose all human rights"

Lupin looked at the headmaster shocked. "What! You can't be serious?"

"I am afraid that I don't have much to say in that matter."

"Then we just have to make sure nobody finds out."

"Yes…" Dumbledore said slowly "even more secrets at Hogwarts."


End file.
